


THE GREAT SWITCHEROO

by DescendantsFan21



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Bodyswap, Dramedy, Kara And Lena Bodyswap, Kara Danvers Becomes The Superior Luthor, Kara and Lena Switch Bodies, Lena Luthor Becomes The New Supergirl, Nature Versus Nurture, Supergirl Season 6 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28006437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DescendantsFan21/pseuds/DescendantsFan21
Summary: After a failed attack by Lex, Kara and Lena switch bodies. The problem is that it may be permanent and results in the two friends having another argument. Kara goes reluctantly to Lillian for help and her plan is simple: to overcome this problem Kara must truly become a Luthor and Lena must become exactly like Kara. But what happens when the plan goes too far?
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers & Lex Luthor, Kara Danvers & Lillian Luthor, Lena Luthor & Andrea Rojas, Lena Luthor & Nia Nal
Comments: 26
Kudos: 37





	1. AN UNEXPECTED SWAP

Lena had to admit it, she had never expected one of Lex's inventions to do this. But here they were. Her and Kara had completely switched bodies because her brother had to try and murder Supergirl. Lena stared at her new reflection in the mirror inside Kara's apartment. She now had blonde hair, crystal-blue eyes, a wholesome face, and kryptonian muscles all over that were covered by her super suit.

"Lena?"

Lena heard her own voice call out for her. It was so strange to hear it sound so... sweet? Innocent?

"I just got off the phone with Alex," said Kara. "She's saying that Lex's device is completely trashed. She's going to need your help to fix it. You can fix it, right?"

Lena thought for a long moment. She had spent years studying at the top universities in the world and majored in seven different forms of adavanced scienctific studies. But... she couldn't understand how she had passed all of those classes now, let alone received her twenty PHD's. Right now, Lena couldn't understand any other type of science besides basic chemistry. What the hell happened to her? "Kara... I can't!"

"Can't what?" asked Kara In concern.

"I can't fix the device!" Lena exclaimed. "I can't remember anything about understanding that level of science. It's almost as if I lost every ounce of my IQ."

"Lena... that can't be true," said Kara with anxiety in her voice. "You're a — a — genius! I mean, this can't be that difficult for you! It's obvious that Lex's device was a electromagnetic brainwave disruptor. Built on the principle that the right type of electric waves can cease brain function. What must have caused our switch was our close proximity to each other along with my use of heat vision."

Lena nearly died from shock. Kara had just rambled off a genius level explanation of their current situation and she seemed to understand it completely. A horrible thought crossed Lena's mind. "Kara, I think my IQ stayed with my body," said Lena. "I think you're the genius now."

"Of course!" Kara smiled excitedly. "The device must have just switched our brainwaves, our personas, into each other's brains! Which means I'm still me in your body, but I still have your mind along with it. So, I can access your IQ and business knowledge. That's why I've been thinking about the L-Corp finance spreadsheets and stock prices for the past hour!"

"You seem awfully happy about this," Lena sighed.

"Of course I am," said Kara. "This means that I can fix the device now and — since you have your brainwaves mixed with my mind and body, you should have full control over my powers! You should be able to use them like a pro!"

Lena hadn't thought of that. The idea was almost... intoxicatingly thrilling. "I think I need to test that theory..." Lena smiled.

Kara's excitement turned back to worry. "Lena, no! We should wait until Alex gets here and ask her for her or Brainy's —!"

But it was too late. Lena had already leaped out the apartment window and soared into the air at super speed. Lena loved this — this feeling! She had never experienced anything like it before. All her life Lena had felt confined in her own life as a Luthor, but now flying through the sky as Supergirl she truly felt free! And she was flying perfectly, like she had been doing this her whole life. Lena stopped high above the city and activated her super-hearing. She could hear any sound from any direction with ease. She then turned it off and activated her heat vision and shot a heat beam into a empty direction. Lena smiled happily. Kara's theory was right! She had all of Kara's experience and control over her newfound kryptonian body. Lena then flew like a rocket back to Kara's apartment and landed gracefully on her feet.

This time Kara's jaw was dropped. "You — you used my powers perfectly!"

"I know," Lena smiled. "It was amazing! Do you feel like this all the time?"

"Pretty much," Kara smiled back. "But this is great! It's going to take me a few weeks to fix the device, so you can pretend to be Supergirl and Kara Danvers, while I take over for you at L-Corp. That way neither of our careers or National City will be in danger!"

"You seriously think that we can pull off being each other?" Lena raised her eyebrow.

"We're best friends," said Kara. "Who could better at being each other than us!"

"Alright," sighed Lena. "But if we're going to do this, then we're going to do it right. Only Alex can know about the swap. Nia and Brainy gossip way too much and I don't want the entire city knowing about it. I don't even want to tell J'onn, because he's still furious over the whole Myriad thing. And second, we have to dress exactly like the person who's body we're in. Third, no fatty or junk foods whatsoever will go in my body while your in it, understand? I've been on a diet for too long to stop now. And finally, you can't smile at every person at L-Corp. You're the boss now, so you'll have to act like it, okay?"

"Fine," said Kara. "But that also means that you'll have to smile at everyone at CatCo."

"Fine," Lena grumbled.

"And I should stay at your five story penthouse," said Kara smirking, "while you live here, since we're keeping this a secret."

"Now, Kara, I don't think that's —!"

"I'm sorry," Kara smirked. "But I'm pretty sure that your name is Kara Danvers, not mine. I'm Lena Luthor and I have a busy day tomorrow and I must be getting home to my penthouse. I have a billion dollar company to run, you know? I'll see you later... Kara."

Kara had to suppress a laugh. Lena glared at Kara, clearly annoyed by this imitation. "And just how will you be getting home... Lena? You didn't bring your car and your wearing three-thousand dollar heels."

Kara walked over to the coat rack and picked up Lena's purse and pulled out Lena's phone. "I'll just use my new IPhone 12 Pro to call me a private limo. I do love being rich. Don't forget you have to be at CatCo by seven sharp, Kara. And you'll be making a lot less money than I will. See you soon!"

Kara walked out of the apartment without another word, already dialing on Lena's phone. Lena walked over to Kara's phone and knew that she would have to text Alex and be the one to explain everything to her. Lena looked down at the IPhone 6s Plus with distaste, but then a devious thought ran through her now blonde head. If Kara wanted to make this a bad imitation contest, then Lena would be happy to oblige. Lena was going to have fun the next day when she arrived at CatCo. It was time everyone there got the most perky, cheerful, and bubbly Kara Danvers ever. Oh... this was going to be so much fun!

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. A Not So Super Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara pretends to be Lena Luthor, until her and Alex can find a way to fix the device. Kara loves Lena’s luxurious lifestyle (Hello, a penthouse with lots of walk-in closets filled with amazing outfits and a huge, relaxing jacuzzi!), but soon discovers that unfortunately a bodyswap goes both ways and the new “Supergirl” might have a rotten since of humor.

Kara loved Lena's penthouse. It was five stories, had six walk-in closets filled with million dollar designer clothes, a walk-in shower, a jacuzzi, a state of the art kitchen, and a giant bed so soft it could make you feel like you were lying on air. And Kara should know, she has laid on air before.

As soon as Kara walked into the penthouse, Lena's AI turned on all the lights and greeted her. Kara smiled and said, "Hi." before going straight to the jacuzzi. Kara was more than ready to take off Lena's red pencil skirt and high-heels. She had never felt such pain in all of her life, not even when she was fighting Reign all those years ago. Back in her old body, Kara had never even been able to feel the touch of any type of clothing on her body thanks to her invulnerability. But now she was in Lena's human body and her hips and legs were horribly sore from how tight Lena's pencil skirt was wrapped around her. Not to mention her feet. Oh, good lord, her feet. Kara had never had them before, but now she could swear that she was feeling her first ever blisters.

Kara stripped out of the pencil skirt and kicked off the heels, followed by her red blouse. She paused for a moment, realizing that she was now just in a bra and underwear. She was about to see her best friends body naked for the first time, there would be no going back after this. "Well, I just won't look at all of it. We're going to be in each other's bodies for a few weeks and I going to have to stay clean. We both are. We're both adults. This shouldn't feel so weird." Kara tried to shake the thought that Lena would soon be seeing her own naked body soon enough. The idea made Kara shudder nervously. But eventually the need to relax and the wish to use the jacuzzi won out. Kara finished stripping down, poured some of Lena's bathing salts in, turned on the jacuzzi, and got in.

Kara had never felt so relaxed or at peace before in her life. The jacuzzi jets caused such ease on the tension in Lena's body that Kara almost fell asleep. Kara had to force herself out of the jacuzzi a little reluctantly and dried off. Kara put on one Lena's bath robes and walked into Lena's master bedroom. Kara then opened its walk in closet and took a moment to marvel at all of Lena's million dollar clothes. There were thousands of them. Cashmere blouses, more pencil skirts, custom mad business suits, cute workout clothes, shoes of every color and size, and, ah hah, silk pajamas and fuzzy slippers. It was official, Kara thought as she felt the comfy pajamas on her new skin, she was in heaven.

Kara walked over to Lena's giant mirror and stared at her new body admiringly. Kara had always wished that she had cold black hair like Lena's and thought that the green eyes were breathtaking. Lena had always been so beautiful and elegant, everything people expect a woman of Lena's status to be. So much so, it had always made Kara feel insecure about herself when they first became friends. Lena was everything Kara could never be, a genius, wealthy, poise... and human. Don't get her wrong, Kara would never want this switch to be permenant, she loved her own body and life, but it just went to show her how much she had always wished she could be a little bit more like Lena.

Kara laid down on Lena's bed and felt at ease once more. Kara's thoughts drifted back to Lena in her body. Kara thought about how she mocked Lena in good fun and started to burst out laughing remembering the look Lena had given her. Okay, so maybe Kara was still a little bitter about how Lena had used her for a Myriad after finding out about Kara's identity. So, maybe this swap was for the best. Lena could finally fly in Kara's shoes for a wile and understand her better. Kara just knew that things were going to work out for the best. And if she got to enjoy Lena's luxurious lifestyle and make a few jokes about it, then it would make it even better.

Kara was awoken by a loud digital alarm the next morning. It was so loud that it nearly gave Lena's body a heart attack. "That's... gonna take some getting used to," Kara sighed. Kara looked out her phone and saw that it was six o'clock in the morning. The AI of the penthouse told her that the first three things she needed to get done was get dressed, put on her makeup, and finish L-Corps finance spreadsheets and go over the recent company stock escalation. Kara yawned and did as she was told. She put on one of Lena's cashmere purple blouses, violet slacks, and much to her chargin, a pair of Lena's three-thousand dollar high heels. Then she got to work on Lena's laptop.

Even with Lena IQ at her disposal, it still took Kara and hour and a half to finish the spreadsheet and analyzing the stocks. The AI then told her it was time for breakfast. "Finally," said Kara. "I'm starving." Kara walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There are dozens of dishes with labels for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that were also marked for which day they were supposed to be eaten. The only problem was that they consisted of mostly the same food for every day. For breakfast, it was a thermos of lime-green, spinach, broccoli, and seaweed smoothies. Yuck! For lunch it was a Caesar Salad. That wasn't much. And for dinner it was a plain baked, chicken breast with boiled green beans. Oh, no, no! Kara couldn't eat this stuff for the next few weeks. It would be torture! She had to text Lena about this.

Kara texted her old number, "Lena, please tell me I don't have to eat what's in your fridge! That can't be all of your diet!"

Lena texted back a few seconds later. "Lena? I'm not Lena Luthor, you are. I'm Kara Danvers! Your SUPER best friend! Are you okay, Lena?"

"That's not funny!" Kara texted back. Lena was still ticked off about last night.

"Don't worry," Lena texted back to Kara. "You've been on this diet for a year now! I know you said that all of that food tastes like vomit, but we can't all be Kryptonians like me and eat anything we want and still look good. I mean, I just picked up three dozen donuts, a stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and ten sticky buns and ate all of them at super speed! They were DELICIOUS! But not everyone can be as lucky as me, I guess. I'm so sorry, Lena. But I have hope you can do it! I am the paragon of hope after all! Have a SUPER DAY! I know I will! ?"

Kara sighed and sat the phone back on the counter and took out a thermos of smoothie. She pinched her nose and started to chug it down. Lena was right, this stuff did taste like vomit.

Kara called for her private limo, which drove her to L-Corp. Kara knew that from here on out for the rest of the day, she couldn't act like herself. She had to do a true and perfect Lena Luthor impression. As soon as Kara walked through L-Corp's entrance. Kara strode past everyone around with her head held high and face cold, but respectable. Kara walked to Lena's private elevator and pressed the button to bring her to the top floor to Lena's office.

Kara left the elevator and opened her office doors to be greeted by Lillian Luthor, Lena's adoptive mother.

"Lena, how nice to see you," said Lillian. "Tell me, why the long face? Having another hangover at the office are we?"

Kara tried her best to calm herself and keep in character. "I don't see why that's any concern of yours, Mother. I should think a few drinks last night would be welcome after Lex nearly got me killed when he tried to murder my best friend in cold blood."

"Well, you should know a thing about murder," smiled Lillian. "After all, you murdered Lex once."

"I did that to protect my friends, Mother," said Kara bitterly. "Lex only kills people because he's a soiciopath. Now, get out of my office. Since Lex is on the run for his attempt on Supergirl's life, I have sole control over this company. Not you. Now, get out of my office or I shall have you escorted out."

"Spoken like a true Luthor," Lillian smiled. As she walked past Kara she whispered in her ear. "There May be hope for you yet... Supergirl."

Kara gulped silently, but tried not to let Lillian see her sweat. Lillian knew about the body swap, but it seemed like she hadn't told anyone else. This was almost like some sort of sick game to Lena's family and it gave Kara the creeps.

The rest of the day went rather smoothly. Kara held three different meetings, approved five new products, and increased funding in alien refugee charity department. Kara was quite pleased with herself by the time she met with Alex in Lena's lab. Alex had brought the device that had started all of this. When Alex saw Kara she looked in awe at her sister and whispered, "Kara? Is that you?"

"Yeah," Kara smiled. "It's really me in here."

"Wow," said Alex. "You look just like her."

"Well, it is her body," laughed Kara. "I'm just living in it."

Alex laughed and sat the charred remains of the device on the nearest table and said, "Well, let's get to work then."

Kara and Alex spent the next three hours working on device repair, but even with their combined intellect it looked like it was going to take longer than a few week. Maybe even months? "What am I going to tell Lena," sighed Kara in frustration.

Alex grinned and pointed to the TV playing the local new in the corner. "I don't know. But she seems to be having a fun time as you."

Kara turned around and looked at the TV in horror. Lena was being interviewed as Supergirl after saving fifty people from a burning building. Lena's face was wearing a goofy, ditzy grin and she playing with her cape like a fool. She then grabbed the mic from the news anchor and said, "I'm sorry but, I like, can't talk about my rescues on TV anymore... Unless it's on CatCo news station! I have totally signed a contract to give my various exclusive interviews to CatCo. If you want to read about them in CatCo's magazines, only read the articles by Kara Danvers! She will be my sole interviewer in between her new weekly gossip column. With her first gossip piece coming out this Friday!" Kara was about to blow a gasket and wished she still had her heat vision so she she could fry this TV. She was a serious journalist! Not a gossip columnist! But Lena wasn't done yet, she put on a serious face, placing her hands on her hips firmly. She was doing the signature Supergirl pose. Then Lena said in a very serious voice. "Well, that's it everyone! Have a SUPER DAAAAAYYYY!" She shouted as she shot up into the sky. It was official, Kara was in hell. Kara turned to Alex, who was dying laughing. "Really!"

"What?" Alex laughed. Kara knew that Alex was never going to let her live this down. Ever.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. The Warlord & The Preacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a horrible argument once again shatters Kara and Lena’s friendship, Lena refuses to help reverse the bodyswap. So, Kara goes to the only other person cunning enough to outwit Lena: Lillian Luthor.

Lena had woken up this morning feeling better than she had ever felt before. She had literally slept on air all through the night. She used her super speed to dress her new body and apply Kara's make up. She had picked out one of Kara's loose fitting white dresses with floral prints all over it. Lena tied her blonde hair in a tight bun and slid on some of Kara's flats. She put on Kara's signature glasses and tried her best to smile sweetly in the bedroom mirror.

"Hi, I'm Kara Danvers," said Lena in a perky sing-song voice. "I'm the star reporter for CatCo Worldwide Media! I even won a Pulitzer! And I can smile at everyone all day every day, because I'm the sweetest person you will ever meet!"

Lena nearly burst out laughing at her impression of Kara. "Okay, Kara. You asked for this last night. I can't wait for the world to get to know the new you... or me?" Lena smirked proudly. This was going to be a great day.

Lena looked over at Kara's clock. It was nearly six-thirty in the morning. She still had thirty minutes before she had to start her Kara performance at CatCo and... she was hungry. Good lord! She was so hungry! She knew that her new body would need to consume a lot more calories than she was used to... Wait a minute... She was in Kara's body now! She could eat anything she had ever craved without gaining weight! For the past year, Lena had been on a strict diet. Doctor's orders. All she had been allowed to eat was the same horrible health foods every damn day. But today was different. Today she was a kryptonian! She could eat everything she had been missing all year long. Oh, man! Was she going to enjoy this meal!

Lena walked down to the nearest bargain breakfast diner. Once there she ordered stacks of pancakes, scrambled eggs, loads of bacon, hash browns, ten sticky buns, and even left with three dozen glazed donuts. She ate those at super speed. This was the best tasting meal of her life. Lena even got to drink seven steaming hot mugs of hot cocoa. She had foregotten how wonderful sugar tasted, especially chocolate. She even roared with laughter when Kara texted her about having to eat Lena's diet. Things were going great.

Lena arrived at CatCo exactly at seven o'clock. She entered using the public elevator. Andrea was already seated in her office and spotted Lena immediately. "Danvers, in here! Now!"

"Sure thing, boss," Lena smiled sweetly. As Lena passed all of the other reporters, they greeted her with bright and kind smiles. Was this how people treated Kara everyday? So... nice? It was a whole lot different then what Lena was used to and she kind of liked it.

Lena entered Andrea's office and sat down in the chair opposite of her new boss. "Kara as you know, I am in the middle of rebranding CatCo. And I have decided to start a juicy gossip colum. I need a well known writer to spear-head it. I've chosen you. What do you say?"

"I... can I please think about it?" Lena tried sounding as sweet as she could muster. She couldn't just accept this position without consulting Kara first. And knowing her best friend, she would hate it.

"Sure," said Andrea. "You have one hour. I hope you make the right decision."

Lena walked out of Andrea's office wanting to punch her former friend. How could Andrea be such a bitch to work for? Lena sat down at Kara's desk and turned on Kara's computer. She was proofreading some of Kara's work when Nia came running up eagerly to her.

"Kara!" She said excitedly. "You're not going to believe what Lena just did!"

Lena's face dropped slightly. "Wh — What did Lena do?"

"She increased the funding for the alien refugee charity by seventy percent!" said Nia happily.

"But L-Corp needed that funding saved for future projects," Lena frowned.

"Oh, it's Lena," said Nia shrugging it off. "She's a genius. The main thing is she's doing the right thing! And you were so worried that she would have a hard time finding her way back to being good."

"I... said that?" Lena asked trying to mask her hurt.

"Yeah, but you were worried for nothing," Nia smiled. "Lena's finally doing the right thing. She's finally being a real hero. And you didn't think that was possible! I told you she could do it!"

"Yeah," Lena smiled through gritted teeth. "I guess so. Excuse me, Nia. I need to go accept my new promotion."

Lena was walking back to Kara's apartment still fuming. How could Kara think that low of her? Well, she showed her. Kara Danvers was now the highest paid gossip columnist in National City. Then, Lena heard hundreds of screams. This was a job for... Supergirl! The new and improved version, Lena smirked at her thoughts.

Lena changed into her super suit and flew to the skies. She soon spotted the source of the screams. It was a burning apartment complex and it was going down quick. She had to act fast! Lena used Kara's freeze breath on the building and then flew inside of it, removing every innocent person at super speed. Soon, everyone was safe as the building crumbled down.

A news crew came running towards her excitedly. "Supergirl! Supergirl! Can we have a quick interview?"

Lena smirked on the inside, she really hoped that Kara was watching this.

Lena flew back into Kara's apartment through the window and once again landed gracefully. She heard someone shout from behind her. "What the hell did think you were doing back there?!"

Lena turned around and let out a laugh. Kara and Alex were standing behind her. Kara looked livid. "Well, I was just being myself, Lena. I was being a real hero."

"Oh, cut the crap, Lena!" Kara snapped.

"But aren't you Lena?" Lena smirked.

Kara looked like she was about to throw something. Alex, sensing the danger, tried to intervene. "Okay, calm down both of you. Look, Lena, the device is so horribly damaged and the tech was obviously salvaged from Leviathan and that's more advanced than any of us on earth have ever dealt with. So, we have no idea how or when you two will be able to switch back to your own bodies. We need to put our heads together and —!"

"No," said Lena plainly.

"What," said Kara in disbelief.

"I think that it's a good thing we can't switch back," said Lena crossly. "Do you know how good today was for me? I could eat whatever I wanted, I could slouch and smile at people and you know what? They genuinely smiled back at me and treated me like a person, not a Luthor. I got to have an easy workload for once and have fun talks with Nia during coffee breaks. And then I got to save hundreds of people from certain death. And even when I acted like a dumb blonde on tv, they still looked at me like I was a hero! Why would I ever want to go back to being Lena Luthor? A person that the old Kara still thought she didn't have it in her to be a good person!"

"Nia told you," Kara breathed anxiously. "Look, I didn't mean —!"

"Save it," snapped Lena. "We're staying like this until I say otherwise! I want Kara to walk around for a long time and feel just how bleak it is to be a Luthor!"

"And what if we disagree," snarled Alex.

"Then, I will be happy to be the villain you expected me to be and I'll reveal Kara's identity to the world! And I don't think that even J'onn has that much power to erase an entire planet's memories!"

"Why you —!" Alex started, but Kara held her off.

"If this is what you want," said Kara. "Then, I hope you enjoy living a life that will never be truly yours... Kara."

"Good," fumed Lena. "Now, get out of my apartment, Lena!"

"Come on, Alex," said Kara. And the two women left. Lena plummited in the nearest armchair. "What did I just do?" She put her face inside of her hands and let out a groan. She let the Luthor temper get the best of her... again. She was just so angry at Kara for saying those things behind her back and then Alex gave her the shock of a lifetime saying the machine may not be able to be fixed. She should have thought more about what she was saying. Good lord, this was Myriad all over again. Lena picked up Kara's phone and tried calling both Kara and Alex, but neither one was answering. What was she going to do now? How in the hell would she make things right? She couldn't possibly really want to be trapped as Kara Danvers forever, even with all of the French benefits. She would have to find them tomorrow and try to talk things out. That was the only thing she could do. She just prayed that it wouldn't be too late.

Kara brought Alex back to L-Corp. They went back down to Lena's old lab. They were waiting for someone.

"Do you really think that she'll show?" Alex asked Kara.

"No," said Kara. "But what other choice do we have? She might be the only one who can stop Lena."

"Well, of course I am," said Lillian Luthor as she walked over to the other women.

"Will you help us?" Kara asked Lillian.

"Yes," said Lillian. "But you will have to do things my way if you wish to win."

"And what's that?" asked Alex.

"Have you ever heard of a psychology book called 'The Great Switcheroo'? No? I thought not. You see, a hundred years ago, there was a preacher and a warlord. The preacher wished nothing more than to save all of the innocent people under the warlord's thumb. So he went to a wise shaman who told him that the only way to defeat that great of an enemy was to switch places with him. The preacher would have to somehow force the warlord to go through all of the preacher's life experiences and vice versa. So, the preacher planned and planned. And one day the switcheroo went into motion. Both the preacher and the warlord basically became each other. With this new perspective, the preacher was finally able to defeat the warlord. This is exactly what you must do with my daughter."

"You want me to truly become Lena?" asked Kara in shock. "To think just like her?"

"And you want Lena to adopt Kara's way of thinking?" asked Alex in awe. "That might just work."

"Well, the works mostly done," Lillian smiled. "They're already in each other's bodies. Lena has Kara's powers and Kara has Lena's genius. All we need is a few months to put the plan into motion. But we will do this the smart way. Alex you will start with acting like a real older sister to Lena and bring her back to your childhood home of Midvale, to your mother. Then, bring her to Argo to meet Kara's birth mother. But don't tell either of them about the body swap. They must believe that Lena is really Kara for this to work. Then bring her back to the city and find a news story similar to the first one Kara originally wrote about when she first started.

"Meanwhile, Kara, I will teach you how to be a Luthor first hand. I will isolate you from all of your little Superfriends, you will be put in a situation where you must put yourself first or suffer dire consequences, then you will experience the hatred the world has always shown the Luthor firsthand, then you will go through a new type of survival training, and you will talk to no one else in your personal life except for me and Lena's AI. These are my conditions, accept them or face Lena on your own."

"No," said Alex. "This is too dangerous — too crazy. Kara you can't agree to this!"

"I..."

"Don't you see, Kara?" Lillian asked. "Lena has the advantage because she is a Luthor with the powers of Supergirl. The only way you can beat her is if you become a Supergirl with the strength, drive, and assets of a true Luthor. And if you make Lena more like you, then she will never see your attack coming. You will be superior. You will be the true hero, because you might even save Lena's soul by making her the new paragon of hope."

"Yeah, but at the cost of your own!" Alex told Kara.

"Alex... I have to do this," said Kara firmly. "If I can get my body back and save Lena's soul by sharing my experiences with her, then that's what I'm gonna do!"

"But —!" Alex protested.

"No buts," said Kara. "I need you to trust me on this Alex. I'm stronger than what Lena was. I can handle being a Luthor by myself. Just follow Lillian's plan and do exactly as she says."

"But what if this was her and Lex's plan from the start," said Alex anxiously.

"You're just going to have to trust me," said Kara. "You don't have to trust Lillian, but I need you to trust me. This is the only way, okay?"

"...Okay," said Alex finally. "I trust you, Kara. Just be careful."

"Always," Kara smiled and hugged her sister warmly.

Lillian smirked and handed Alex a mini-communicator. "Do as I've already told you, Alex. Then contact me when your done. Understood."

"Yes," said Alex bitterly.

"Good," said Lillian. "Now, go. It's time for Kara's life lessons to begin."

Alex looked at Kara one last time and said, "I love you, remember that."

"I love you too," Kara tried to put on a brave face knowing that this was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. Once Lillian was sure that Alex had left, she spun Kara around and slapped her hard around the face! Kara screamed in pain and shock as Lillian smiled at her and said, "Lesson One: Luthors never say I love you. Bonus Lesson: forget who you were! Kara Danvers is the enemy now! You are a Luthor! Lena Luthor! And from now on that is the only name I shall call you. And you will call me mother! Now — what is your name?!"

Kara glared at her, and through gritted teeth she said: "My name is Lena Luthor... Mother."

"Good job, Lena," Lillian smirked. "Welcome to the family."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. The Superior Lena Luthor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara begins the process of of fulfilling Lillian’s plan. And as much as Kara tries to keep a hopeful perspective on things, the Luthor way of thinking slowly starts tempting her to forever change her beliefs.

It had been nearly three months since Kara made her devil's bargain with Lillian. Three months of being isolated from her friends and family. Yes, she had still been working as the CEO of L-Corp and trying to desperately find a way to fix the device that caused all of this to no avail.

Kara would work day and night endlessly, except for a few conversations at the penthouse with Lena's AI and... Lillian. Lillian had taught her how to play chess, Kara had even won a few games. Lillian was also teaching Kara how to fight in her new body. That was not fun at all...

Kara was having to take karate and ju-jitzu classes every night before bed. She was also being trained to shoot any type of gun, mostly pistols. But what bothered her most about it was the fact that they were teaching her kill shots.

"Why are you making me learn this?" Kara asked Lillian impatiently. "I'm never going to kill anyone!"

Lillian laughed. "We're Luthors, dear, eventually there will come a day when you have to kill to survive. The original Lena learned these shots when she was eight."

"What that's —!"

"It came in handy too," Lillian smiled thoughtfully. "One night when we were coming home from a gala, we were attacked by a mugger. He held us at gun point, aiming his pistol right at Lena's head. She was sixteen at this point. So, she used her training in the various forms of martial arts, took his gun and she shot. He never lived to mug anyone again."

"That's... terrible Lena would never —!"

"Oh, I assure you it's all true," said Lillian. "And one day you will do the same. It's the only way to truly become Lena Luthor."

"No!" Kara shouted. "I will never take a life! I'm Supergirl!"

"No, dear," Lillian smiled. "Kara Danvers is Supergirl. You're Lena Luthor. It's time you accept that."

In the days that followed, Lillian had organized a press tour for Kara across the country. Kara would have to speak once she arrived in each town or city. The problem was that every city that Kara was having to go to were places filled with people who mistrusted or hated the Luthors. Every time Kara would try to give her rehearsed speech or answer press questions, rioters would throw rocks or garbage at her. They would curse Lena's name and make death threats. Kara would have to have security guards with her at all times. Doing all of this as a human scared Kara horribly. She still carried her pistol in her purse, but always wished to never have to use it.

One night, Kara was in one of the hotels Lillian had booked for her. Kara was feeling more alone than ever before. She missed her friends, she missed her sister, she missed her life. Kara used to be the paragon of hope, but right now, she was barely hanging on to it by a thread. Kara took out Lena's phone and went to her contacts until she saw Alex's number. It was against Lillian's rules, but Kara had to talk to someone who could reignite her hope. Kara dialed Alex's number. It went straight to voicemail. Kara tried again. Straight to voicemail. Kara tried ten more times, but all of them were the same. Straight to voicemail. Kara was about to cry when she turned on the TV and news was coming on about "Supergirl's Daring New Rescues Around The World!" Kara saw Lena in her old body fighting aliens, terrorists, tanks, criminals, and saving various people from natural disasters. In almost all of them, Lena was back by the Superfriends: Brainy, J'onn, Nia, and... Alex. Alex was even caught on camera smiling and hugging Lena as if that was her true sister. Kara cried harder. She walked over to the mini bar set up in the hotel room and grabbed a bottle of Scotch. Kara uncorked it and guzzled it down until she passed out in her bed.

The next day, Kara had the world's worst hangover. She had left the hotel a little earlier then her first scheduled appearance and was drinking black coffee at a local cafe. She just wished her head would stop pounding. Then, Kara heard a very loud cry for help coming from around the corner of the nearest alley. It was a woman and Kara could tell that she was in dire trouble. Kara grabbed her purse and security guards, running towards the alley. Three thugs had a woman at gunpoint. Kara told her guards to stop them, but before they could pull out their guns, two shot were fire from behind them and the guards fell to the ground dead. "NO!" Kara shouted. Two more thugs had appeared behind her, taking her purse (where her pistol still was) and grabbing her by the arms. Kara's mind went blanks, these men were stronger than she was. This wasn't something she was used to. She was in so much shock that she couldn't even remember her training. The thugs threw her down to the next woman and they all laughed. Kara looked down on her wrist at Lena's signal watch. She could use that to summon Lena here. Kara quickly activated it, all she had to do was bide her time.

One of the thugs with a gun smiled at them and said, "What do you know? We caught two girls for the price of one! A Luthor even. But we only need one girl for some... fun. So, here's how this will go. I'll give one of you a choice to decide who gets to come with us or who gets to run away." The thug smiled and bent down to the other woman. "So, would you rather be the one who gets to run away or would you rather give your life for Lena Luthor who came here to save you?"

The woman glared at the thug then at Kara and said, "She's a Luthor. I don't give a damn what you do to her. Just let me go and I won't even tell anyone you guys took her."

Kara looked at woman in shock. Kara had come, risking her own life to save this woman and the woman was just going let her die because of her family name?

The thug smiled and said, "That's what I like to hear! Go on. Get out of here miss and don't forget to keep your word."

He let the other woman stand up and without giving Kara a second look, she ran away. The thugs then smiled at Kara devishly. Kara looked up into the sky, hoping for a sign of Lena coming to her rescue. "SUPERGIRL — HELP!" Kara tried shouting at the top of her lungs, but Lena never came. The thugs just laughed at her. "You idiot! Don't you know that Supergirl's off planet! You're all alone now."

Hours later Kara was bound and gagged in in an abandoned warehouse. The thugs had been torturing her all night. They had been stabbing her with hot pokers and even shot her three times in her shoulder. She was bleeding and in insufferable pain. She couldn't take much more of this. She closed her eyes and saw Lillian in her mind.

"What are you doing?" Lillian asked her.

"...Giving up," said Kara in her head. "I can't win. I'm only human and I'm all alone."

"Luthors don't give up," Lillian told her. "We're always alone, because people will always choose themselves over others. You saw how that woman you tried to save left you to suffer through this! In the end we are always alone. But Luthors are at their strongest alone. We are survivors! Why do think I have been teaching you everything the original Lena knew? You have to kill to survive!"

"But... how could... I..."

"Look at the table next to you," said Lillian. "You're purse, that holds your gun, is laying right there! And one of those pokers are laying right beside it! Use the poker to cut your bonds and then kill the thugs who did this to you! They're not even paying attention right now, are they? They're downstairs watching football!"

It was true. Kara could hear the play by plays all night. She heard Lillian's voice tell her one last time. "I've been telling you that you were a Luthor all this time. Now — PROVE IT!"

Kara opened her eyes and used all of her strength to scoot over to the table. She crashed into it and the burning hot poker landed in her tied hands. Kara was worried that the nose would alert her captors, but luckily the game was so loud it covered up the noise. Kara used the burning poker to cut herself free, even though her bullet wounds and the stab wounds were killing her. She was about to shatter her teeth from the pain. You're a Luthor now, she thought to herself. Time to start acting like it! Once she was free, Kara pulled the pistol out of her purse and edged over to the corner of the stairs. She took aim and for the first time ever didn't hesitate to take the kill shot on every last one of them. When she was done, her gun still smoking, she felt numb inside and walked back to her purse, pulling out her phone. She then called 911.

The next morning, Kara was in the National City Hospital. They had stitched her up and she was resting, still trying to come to terms with what she had done. Where all people doomed to violence and death? Was Lena right all along?

When the doctor came in to check on her, his expression was bleak. "Ms. Luthor, you're blood test results came back today. As you know, we run blood test results on every patient as a precaution. The thing is... it showed that you have a rare form of cancer. It's so rare that there's no cure for it."

"How long... how long do I have?" Kara managed.

"A year at the most."

Kara spent the next couple of days in the hospital, her mind constantly spinning about every possibility of what hell she would go through next. Then, on her last day there, Alex came to visit her."

"Kara!" Alex cried. "I'm so sorry that I didn't get here sooner! I was on Argo with Lena."

"Get out!" Kara said.

"...What?" Alex said in shock.

"GET OUT!" Kara shouted in anger.

"Kara, I'm your sister," said Alex. "I was just trying to do the plan. Your plan. What... what did Lillian do to you, Kara."

"Don't call me Kara," said Kara furiously. "Kara Danvers was weak and naive! My name is Lena Luthor. Now, get out before I call security!"

"...Fine," said Alex tearfully. "But you will always be my sister. You will always be Kara Danvers to me."

Alex then left quietly and Kara didn't even bother to tell her former sister the truth about her diagnosis.

The next day, Lillian called Kara down to the lab. She turned on a video screen and Kara was shocked to see the woman that had left her to be taken by the thugs on screen being attack by another criminal. Lilian smiled at Kara and said, "I know all about what happened. You did good work, but here is your final test to see if you are truly a Luthor. This woman left you to rot. This crime is happening right now, behind our building. You could still get to her in time to save her... or you could leave her to her fate."

"...I don't care what happens to her," said Kara finally. "All humans are the same. They will kill and kill, only looking out for themselves! And that needs to change. Lena was right. Humanity needs to be reprogrammed!"

Kara watched as Lena flew down in the view of the screen, saving the woman's life. "The world doesn't need an alien savior," Kara sneered. "It needs a human to rise up and show humanity how foolish we have become. The world needs a Luthor, not Supergirl."

Lillian smirked proudly. "And which Luthor is that?"

"Me," said Kara firmly. "The Superior Lena Luthor. If I am going to die in a year, then I will truly save this world from itself. I will finish and enhance the Myriad program and do what this new Supergirl was too weak and foolish to do. I will reprogram humanity from the ground up."

"Spoken like a true Luthor," said Lillian proudly. "But don't you want to reclaim your old body and save yourself?"

"In time," said Kara. "But that is not my greatest concern. The world needs saving, but no doubt Supergirl will stand in my way. Especially, if Alex truly turned her into the way I used to be. I'll need some help."

Lillian smirked joyfully. "I thought you would never ask. You can come in now... Lex."

Lex Luthor emerged from the shadows smiling wickedly. "So... you're my new sister, huh? From what I was hearing, I like you better already."

"Good," Kara smirked. "Let's get to work."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. The World Could Use A Little More Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we flashback to Alex taking Lena as Kara to Midvale and Argo to meet Kara’s two most important maternal figures. Will Lena really get to see the world and life the way Kara always had (well, up until this point). Could this be the beginning of Lena becoming a true Supergirl? Well, it’s time to find out...

Lena hated herself right now. Truth be told she had always carried some form of self-loathing. She was a Luthor, after all. Something that she had never in her darkest moments wished to be. 

It was two days after her fight with Kara and Alex. She had been constantly trying to call Kara without any luck. On about the hundredth time, she finally got Alex.

"Alex... I just wanted to say —!"

"There's nothing to say," Alex sighed on the other end of the call. "You were right about everything you said. You're life has been hell and you deserve some kind of break. Even Kara finally agreed."

"She... agreed?" Lena asked in shock.

"Yes," said Alex. "In fact, she's decided to try and see things from your perspective just like you suggested. That's why she's probably not answering your calls. She needs time to figure everything out."

"But, Alex," said Lena. "I was being angry and stupid. I don't want to be Kara Danvers forever. It just wouldn't feel right."

"You really don't have a choice anymore," Alex sighed. "Kara and I have exhausted every single resource we have and there's no way to reverse the body swap. It's permanent."

"How — how is this even possible?" Lena said exasperated. "I need to talk to Kara. I need to make things right!"

"Not yet," said Alex quickly. "Kara wants you to understand what having her life means. She wants me to show you."

"How so?" Lena asked.

"To start," said Alex, "she wants me to take you to Midvale. It's time you met one of your new moms."

Alex picked Lena up in her car about three hours later. Lena had to promise Andrea that she would still continue to write her gossip colum while she was away. Lena had dressed Kara's body in a white turtleneck, blue-jeans, and boots since Midvale was always colder than National City.

She tried to be relatively quiet on their drive, but Alex eventually gave her a half-smile through her sun glasses and said, "What's wrong? You look terrified."

That was pretty much true. Lena hadn't really wanted to leave the city. She had wanted to talk to Kara desperately, but had to forcibly remind herself that this was what Kara wanted. "I'm a little nervous. I don't want to mess up Kara's family life. I've never been good around anyone's family. Especially my own."

"Those were the Luthors," said Alex. "You're Kara Danvers now. You're the paragon of hope. Try having some. Not all families are evil. I'm sure you're gonna love mom."

Lena and Alex had arrived at Midvale two hours later and were greeted by Eliza. Eliza smiled lovingly at them and immediately threw her arms around Lena. "Oh, it's so good to see you again. I missed you so much!"

"I, uh, missed you too, Mom," said Lena. She had never been hugged so lovingly by a mother before that it truly shocked her.

"Come on in," said Eliza sweetly. "You must be starving. I made your favorite, Kara. Chocolate pecan pie."

"Oh, that does sound good," said Lena as they walked into the house. The home was a lot smaller than the Luthor Mansion Lena had been raised in, but it was warmer... more welcoming. The tables were lined with photos of Kara and Alex throughout the years. Eliza really loved her daughters.

Over the next couple of weeks, Lena and Alex spent time with Eliza. They played board games, went shopping at the local outlet mall, made home cooked meals, talked about all of their respective lives and jobs, and genuinely enjoyed each other's company. Lena loved it all. She finally felt at home somewhere. She was finally starting to see what having a real family felt like.

Eliza was nothing like Lillian. She was a kind, loving, funny, gentle woman. One night, after a long evening of conversation. Lena was drinking hot cocoa with Eliza. They were discussing Lena's recent saves as Supergirl (just because she was in Midvale, didn't mean the world stopped needing Supergirl), when Eliza mentioned Lena's new gossip colum. 

"I didn't really ever think you take a promotion like that," said Eliza. "It didn't sound like you, Kara."

"To be honest," said Lena. "I did it while I was angry and even though it's an easy job, I kind of regret it."

"Kara, you should never act on anger," said Eliza sweetly. "It'll always lead you down the wrong path. Think with your heart, your love, your hope. Those are your greatest qualities."

"I just feel so alone sometimes," Lena confessed. "I feel like I'm the only person that I can rely on. That everyone else will never understand me."

"Kara, look at me," said Eliza. "You can always count on me, Alex, J'ohn, Lena, Nia, Brainy and every other friend you have in your life. Because you can inspire people with your hope and love. You can always count on those who love you. You can always believe the best in people, otherwise what's the point in even living?"

"Thank you, Mom," said Lena as a tear ran down her cheek. "I needed to hear that."

"I love you, Kara," said Eliza wiping the tear away with her finger.

Lena had never heard any maternal figure ever tell her these words before, which is why she threw her arms around Eliza and said, "I love you too."

After another week in Midvale, Alex brought Lena to a small rocket base, where J'ohn and Brainy had been keeping the Legion ship. "Are you okay?" Alex asked her in concern.

"Yeah... it's just... I liked it back their in Midvale," said Lena. "I loved being loved by an actual parent for once. I had never felt anything close to a healthy mother daughter relationship before and now... I know why Kara believes people can be better. But, anyways, why are we here."

"We're going to Argo," Alex smiled as she put her arm around Lena. "We're going to meet your other mother... Superman can take care of Earth while we're gone."

Lena loved space travel, there wasn't anything else like it. When they arrived on Argo, they were immediately greeted by Alura. Alura was a lot like Eliza, but also drastically different. She was kind and loving, but believed in justice and the law even more so than Kara did.

Lena spent the next couple of months on Argo learning all about Kryptonian culture. Alura loved telling all of the history and myths of the long lost planet. Lena hung on her every word. Alura showed Lena how the government worked and showed Lena that even if if everything looks incriminating for some suspects, you must still search every angle.

Alura with Lena's help even proved one young Kryptonian teenager's innocence. The child had thanked Lena and gave her a bouquet of Argo roses.

When Lena and Alex returned back to earth, Lena was a changed woman. She had always been taught that love and trust was a weakness. That having hope was a fools errand. That people would alway be corruptible and never change their ways and aliens were even worse. The law should be broken for the greater good. Those were the Luthors beliefs and they were wrong. Dead wrong! Kara had been right. She had always been right and now Lena was going to be who she always should have been. A paragon of hope.

Lena spent the next few weeks searching out news of an alien smuggling ring on earth. It took for what seemed like forever, but finally found the culprit. Her old boarding school acquaintance: Roulette. She remembered Kara mentioning something similar like this in the past, but pushed it out of her mind.

Lena changed into her super suit and fought over a hundred members of Roulette's gang and defeated every last one of them. She then captured Roulette and searched out every other alien slave trading ring in the country connected to it. Dismantling the whole operation in days.

Once that was wrapped up, Lena returned to CatCo as Kara Danvers and marched straight to Andrea's office. 

"Oh, if it isn't my favorite gossip columnist," Andrea smiled. "You're late."

"I'm not your gossip columnist anymore, Ms. Rojas," said Lena curtly. "I want to go back to being a real reporter. Talking about what really matters. With my help, Supergirl uncovered an alien slave smuggling operation and dismantled its country-wide operation. I have her whole perspective on the situation and it will be a CatCo exclusive interview. We will be the first ones to break the news. If you give me my old job and title back."

Andrea flipped through the article and said, "For such a dark story it sounds a little too hopeful."

"The world could use a little hope, Ms. Rojas," said Lena sincerely. "Do you want the story or not?"

"Fine," said Andrea. "The gossip colum wasn't selling that well anyways."

Lena beamed. She did it. It was only a small first step, but she was finally on her way to finding her own way to bring hope to others. Just as Kara once did before her.

Lena went back to Kara's apartment that night and celebrated with Alex and Nia. They were drinking wine and eating potstickers and pizza. Lena even played some Nsync and Backstreet Boys for them to dance to. For some reason she had really started to love those retro boy bands, which mad Alex smile and laugh. Why she did this, Lena couldn't explain. But for most of the night the three women just had pure fun. Until... a new alert blared on all of their phones.

"Breaking news," the alert read. "Lena Luthor: the CEO of L-Corp was kidnapped last week and is in the hospital recovering from various stab and gun shot wounds. She was found inside an abandoned whatehouse and all her attackers were found dead. Some say, Lena Luthor killed them herself as self-defense. More on this to come..."

Alex dropped her wine glass and it shattered instantly. Lena shared with her a mutual a look of worry and dread.

"Kara... no..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, everyone, next chapter we will reach the mid-point in this fic. And things really start to get crazy as the newly Lutherized Kara finally meets with Super Lena after three long months of very different experiences. Just picture the first time they met in Season 2, but completely flipped on its head. There also might be a little callback to the first time that Supergirl saved Lena, but not how you would expect. Also, get ready for a whole lot more of Lex Luthor or as I like to call him: Kara’s new overprotective, sociopathic, big brother. Gotta love the Luthors, right?


	6. They Have Thorns Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original Kara Danvers has forever been altered and in her place stands the Superior Lena Luthor. But what happens when the old meets the new? In other words Kara and Lena reunite for the first time in over three months since the body swap began. Only Kara isn’t the only one who’s had a massive personality change...

Kara finally felt as though the world made since. Humanity and every other species in the universe were all alike: they would enjoy killing or torturing each other instead of actually doing the right damned thing. The only people who could save this god forsaken universe was the Luthors. And they could only do it under her leadership.

Do not mistake Kara's belief for ignorance. No. She was smarter than that. She was more cunning and devious than even Lex himself. She had already figured out that her kidnapping was a setup, part of Lillian and Lex's own horrible scheme. A simple computer virus equipped with an elegant spyware of her own design told her that much. Lex had even somehow arranged for this body swap to happen, thanks to his mysterious benefactor, who was the only piece of the puzzle that Kara couldn't seem to solve. Though, she had her suspicions. A godlike being with an unusual smugness, Lex had written in his notes. It sounded like two old aquatinteces that she herself used to know. Either the Monitor (body swapping was in his wheelhouse) or Mxy (the imp could make almost anything happen). But none of that mattered. Kara had already made precautions for those two if they interfered again.

The truth was Kara didn't give a damn about being manipulated into starting this journey. In fact, she was very pleased that everything that had happened to her in the past three months had. She needed a wake up call. There was no such thing as hope for the universe. Supergirl had been like child playing superhero dress up, trying so desperately to save everyone with love and rainbow stickers. The very thought now sickened her. For all of the Luthors's faults, they did have the right way of thinking in part. Do what needs to be done no matter what the cost. Don't trust or love anyone except for yourself, other people will only use you or, worse, slow you down. And know when you truly are superior to everyone else. That was the most freeing and enjoyable perspective out of all of them. Kara was more superior as Lena Luthor than she had ever been as Supergirl. Yes. She was better. That's why she had to kill those inferior thugs at the wharehouse. That's what she always had to remind herself. Otherwise... how could she keep on living?

Kara pushed that thought out of her head. It was six AM. She stretched out of her large bed and picked out a blood-red cashmere blouse, a black blazer, and a black pencil skirt with matching heels. Kara used to hate how uncomfortable these clothes used to feel, but now she realized it was better to dress this way and command respect than to look like a Kara Danvers pushover. Kara walked over to the kitchen and drank one of her many green smooothies. She was starting to actually enjoy the taste. Kara then felt a sharp, horribly piercing pain go through her whole body. Like her very blood itself was boiling. It was her cancer, HLH, causing it as it had been for weeks now. But that would all be solved soon enough. Kara then grabbed her purse and went out to be picked up by her personal limo.

When Kara arrived inside of L-Corp she went straight to her lab, where Lex was waiting for her. "You're early," said Kara in a bored voice.

"What can I say," Lex smirked at the tone of Kara's remark. "I couldn't wait to get started saving the universe from itself. It's gonna be pretty neat working with my second Kryptonian... underling?"

"Oh, really?" Kara smirked back. "Underling?" Kara walked over and stroked Lex's cheek. Before he could do more than give her a look of surprise, Kara stabbed his shoulder with a small dagger from her purse.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Lex shouted in anger as he nearly fell down to his knees from pain.

Kara bent down beside him and smirked. "I am no ones underling. Nor am I a Kryptonian, dear brother. I am Lena Luthor. Correction. I am the greatest Luthor. I bow to no one and I answer to no one. You are beneath me. You might have been able to dictate your... original and inferior sister, but never make that mistake with me."

"Well... you are impressive," said Lex with a manic gleam in his eyes. "I'll give you that."

"Flattery won't make up for everything, Lex," said Kara standing back up. "So watch your tongue or it might just get cut out."

Lex staggered back up and Kara pulled the dagger out his shoulder and cleaned the blood off with a cloth from her purse. Lex applied pressure to his shoulder and said, "I see you have the Luthor motto memorized. Could you be a little more gentle next time you pull a freakin dagger out of me?"

"Don't be a child," Kara sneered. "It was only a flesh wound. You'll heal... eventually. Now, where are we with project Myriad?"

"You mean your little, newly inherited obsession?" asked Lex. "The Luthor satellites can pick up and beam any signal, including Myriad, across the entire universe thanks to your upgrades. But there's still no way of increasing a human or alien's peaceful side without multiplying their survival instincts causing them to slaughter each other. I experienced that first hand."

Kara snickered. "Oh, yes. The original Lena told me all about your little fun escapade in the jail that night. How it was all part of your manipulative, little, bastardized plan."

"Guilty," Lex smirked.

"But I'm not as ignorant as she was, dear brother," Kara smirked. "As I said, I am the Superior Luthor. I have already solved what she couldn't... or, should I say, what you couldn't?"

"Your pretty overzealous, aren't you?" Lex laughed. "If you weren't my 'sister', I think I would be in love."

Kara walked back over to Lex and sneered. "Luthors don't love." She pulled his hand away from his stab wound and dug her free finger inside of it.

"AAAHHHHHH!" Lex screamed.

"It's a weakness," Kara snickered.

"What are you doing?" Lillian Luthor had entered the lab and was wearing an expression of fury and... was that fear?

"Hello, Mother," Kara smirked. "I was just reminding Lex of the first lesson you tought me." Kara pulled her finger out of Lex's stab wound and wiped it off with her cloth.

"And what was that?" Lillian responded in an outrage.

Kara walked over to her, the Superior Luthor's heels clicking on the lab floor as she did, and slashed Lillian's cheek with her dagger. "Luthors never say 'I love you'"

"You horrible —!"

"Go help your son, Mother," sneered Kara. "He clearly needs your coddling. By the way, I no longer need either of you anymore. I've learned all I needed to from both of you. You're both fired. Leave the premises or I'll call the authorities for Lex and have you banned from here. Your choice."

"You wouldn't dare," snapped Lillian. "We could tell all the right people about your little project."

"It doesn't matter," Kara smirked. "No one can stop me now... not even Supergirl." Kara then walked out of the lab without another word.

The rest of the day of the day was business as usual for Kara. She cut the funding from a few dead-end projects, fired hundreds of people, and continued to work on Myriad. The only shock came when she heard her secretary tell her that Kara Danvers had come to see her. Kara smirked for a moment and then sneered. "Of course, send her in."

Lena walked inside of her old office with great trepidation. She hadn't spoken to Kara in over three months. Alex even wouldn't let her go visit Kara in the hospital. And when Alex came back from visiting her all she had told Lena was that something had changed in Kara and she was sure that Lillian had something to do with it.

So, Lena did the only thing that she could and convinced Andrea to let her interview "Lena" about her kidnapping. Lena was wearing a long, loose, casual white dress, a salmon jacket, pink and white flats, along with Kara's old glasses. Lena even had her now blonde hair tied up in a bun.

Lena was so nervous about this reunion that she had gone through forty-eight potstickers before she arrived. As soon as she looked around the office Lena felt as though she could no longer recognize it or the person that she used to be when it was hers. Had it always been this bleak, she thought to herself.

"Hello, Kara."

Lena looked around and saw Kara in her old body wearing clothes that looked like they belonged to a CEO of an all vampire company.

"Kara, it's so good to see you!" said Lena excitedly as she threw her arms around her old friend. "I was so worried about you after I heard about your kidnapping! I've been wanting to call you for so long now. I've missed you so much!"

"I think you're mistaken, Kara," said the real Kara nicely. "I'm not that person anymore. You can call me by my right name: Lena Luthor or even Ms. Luthor if you wish to be formal. But never call me by such a plain and pedestrian name again."

Lena let go of Kara instantly and looked at her in shock. "You really want us to call each other by each other's names?"

"Well, yes," sneered Kara as though this was obvious. "We're stuck like this aren't we? Might as well embrace it. I know I have."

"Alright, Lena," sighed the real Lena.

"Call me, Ms. Luthor or this interview is over!" Kara snapped.

"Wait — but you said —!" Lena started to ramble nervously.

Kara let out a sneering chuckle and said, "That was only a joke. Lighten up little, won't you?"

Kara walked over to the small bar set up in the office corner and poured two glasses of Brandy. She offered one to Lena. "You know that stuff doesn't effect me, Lena."

"But it does taste splendid," Kara smirked. "Still no? Oh, well, more for me."

Kara took a few sips out of one of the glasses and sat the other one down, continuing to smirk at Lena as she did so.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Lena asked her.

"Just peachy," Kara sneered.

"I mean, you didn't really, uh, kill those thugs did you?" Lena asked nervously.

"Is this part of the interview?" Kara asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, in part, but —!" Lena started

"And here I thought that CatCo wasn't known for its hard-hitting journalism," Kara sneered. "Isn't it more like highway to jeans: yes or no? Especially right under dear old Andrea Rojas? I mean, you can try to bring the class of your career up all you want to, Kara, but it'll never work. If you keep that up you'll be too delusionaly hopeful. And isn't that just a little bit pathetic?"

Lena felt a rage of anger boiling at this point and said, "Being hopeful is never pathetic, Lena. You of all people should know that. ...What did Lillian do to you?"

"She just showed me who I really could be," said Kara turning her back on Lena, facing the window. "Who I always should have been."

"Ka — Lena, I..."

"It was self-defense," Kara said in an unusual bitter voice. "It was either me or them. I chose me. And that's a direct quote. You can check out the police report for the rest of the story. I think we're done here. Goodbye, Kara."

Lena walked towards the exit, trying to fight back a swarm of tears as she did so. "Your office could use a little more color in it. Maybe some roses, they have thorns too..."

Lena then walked away trying her best not to cry as she did. Lena had just reached the outside of the L-Corp building when she saw the Luthor helicopter about to take off, only to be shot at by a swarm of machine gun loaded drones.

"Kara!" Lena breathed. She quickly ran into the nearby alley and changed into Supergirl. She shot up into the air and destroyed the drones with her heat vision. She turned back to the helicopter only to see it about to crash into the street. Lena flew beneath it and caught the helicopter in her arms and flew it up to the helipad. She ripped off the doors to see only Kara on the inside.

"Are you okay?" Lena asked her.

Kara looked in shock, but nodded and said, "Yes, I am... Supergirl."

"Was there anyone else inside there with you?" Lena asked her.

"No," said Kara. "I had an autopilot installed."

"Huh," said Lena thoughtfully. "I always wanted to do that, but never found the time."

She looked at Kara, who was shaking anxiously and had tears in her eyes. "Oh, Lena! I'm so sorry!" It was Kara who threw her arms around Lena this time.

"Kara... it's okay," said Lena patting her on the back.

"You don't understand," cried Kara. "I — I don't have much time left. I've been diagnosed with HLH. It's terminal. I only have one year left to live."

"...That's why you've been so different and harsh," Lena cried as well. "No wonder! I would've been the same way too. Kara, I promise you that I will find a way to reverse this damn body swap and save your life."

"Lena... you can't!" Kara cried. "I don't want you to die either. I've already... good lord! I really killed those men! I killed them! I KILLED THEM!" Kara sobbed into Lena's shoulder.

"Everything's going to get better, Kara," said Lena. "I swear it. I will make things right. Things will be the way they used to be, only better. I won't let you down this time, Kara. Not this time, not ever again."

Lena had dropped Kara back off at the penthouse a few hours later and they had parted on the best of terms. But, as soon as Lena flew away. Kara steadied herself. She was exhausted, almost too much of that breakdown had been real. She took out a copy of what would have used to have been called an extrapulator, but was now only a breach device. She activated it and walked through the breach to her lab. Where Lex and Lillian were talking to their benefactor and he definitely wasn't the Monitor.

"Hello, Mxy."

Mxy and the other Luthors turned around in surprise.

"Now, Kara," said Mxy nervously. "This isn't what it looks like."

"What? That you made a deal with the devil and it's mother?" Kara sneered.

Lex snickered madly. "Wow. You actually remembered my middle name. I knew we were getting close."

Kara took a small tablet out of her purse with a Kryptonian symbol for torture endcribed on it. Lex's eyes widened in fear and shock. "Is that —?"

"I warned you to leave my company," Kara sneered. "But then you tried to have me killed the same way that you did your original sister all those many, many years ago. Now, it's time to cut out both of your tongues." Kara activated the Kryptonian tablet and both Lex and Lillian dropped to the floor in agonizing pain. "Metaphorically, that is."

"How?" Lillian muttered.

"The dagger that I struck you each with earlier was Kryptonian and was bio linked with this tablet," Kara sneered. "It injected your bloodstream with nanites that can heat the blood up to the temperature of the sun. Now you know what it's like to have HLH, to have your blood literally boil."

"You're — you're a monster!" Lillian screamed at Kara.

"No, I'm only human," Kara sneered as a horde of security guards hired personally by Kara entered the lab. She turned to them and said, "Bring them to the holding cells underneath the building."

Mxy ran over to Kara and said, "Kara this isn't you! This wasn't how all of this was supposed to happen!"

Kara smirked and activated another feature on the tablet and Mxy fell to the ground in pain too. "You shouldn't have gotten so close, Mxy." Kara then showed him that she was holding the dagger in her other hand and it was dripping with Mxy's fresh blood. Mxy looked down at his stomach. She had stabbed him the moment he tried to reason with her. "But what about Lena? What about everything you told her today?"

"All an act," Kara snickered. "Now, I have a Kryptonian willing to give me back my body and die for me in the process. Soon Myriad will launch, the universe will be saved, and I will be everything I ever should have been."

"But — but — Myriad won't work right! It's impossible," Mxy shouted through the pain.

"Not with this new, little ingredient," Kara pointed to Mxy's blood on the dagger. "Thanks for the blood, Mxy. It's going to do such magical things. Even... the impossible!"

"Kara — NO!" Mxy shouted in fear.

Kara motioned for the guards to come and take Mxy away. She could still hear his screaming hours later, but that didn't matter and neither did the pain her cancer was causing her at the moment. She had work to do and a universe to finally save.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! We’ve finally reached what I like to call the mid-season finale of this fic! And next time we see these characters again things are only going to get crazier. Lena will be so full of hope and trust, that she knows no matter what everyone and everything is going to be okay. Meanwhile, Kara’s plan will finally reach its boiling point, but is she really so far gone that she can do this evil scheme? Or will her hopeful bestie bring out the best in her? Will Alex finally tell Lena the truth? Either way the next chapter is going to be explosive... literally!


	7. No Matter How Many Times You Trip In The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara struggles with everything she’s done up to this point and grapples with an identity crisis. Meanwhile, CatCo is throwing a huge charity gala and all of the Superfriends (minus J’ohn and M’gann) along with Kara are attending. But secrets will be revealed, Luthors will strike, and the ending will truly be explosive!

Two more months had passed since Supergirl had saved Kara and her plan was going smoothly. Kara had been analyzing Mxy's blood over and over again. On about the thousandth try she finally found the component she had been searching for.

It was the very strand of DNA that allowed Mxy to activate his fifth-dimensional magic. Now, Kara had all she needed to make Myriad a reality. With the help of the L-Corp satellites, her forced message of peace would reprogram everyone's minds across the universe. But that wasn't all, with Mxy's DNA and with further experimentation she might could even cure her cancer without switching back to her old Kryptonian body. Which to be honest, sounded preferable. Having the powers of Supergirl may sound enticing at first, but in reality all those abilities did was make you weak. They had made Kara too gullible and lazy. And in her current body she was a genius, so smart that she had defeated every other Luthor that came her way. If she could keep this body, she definitely would. She could do more good with it than Supergirl ever could. She didn't even need to keep using Lena... but then... why couldn't she stop?

Ever since the rescue, Kara and Lena had almost been spending every day together along with Nia and Brainy. J'ohn was off World with M'gann. Kelly would join them sometimes too. Alex was the only one who Kara hadn't really mended fences with yet and she didn't really want to. Alex had always known Kara better than anyone else and despite every change that Kara's personality had been through, she was sure that Alex would figure out her endgame. But still... why didn't Kara just go ahead and eliminate the threat of Lena and the Superfriends?

As Kara sat in her dark and quiet lab, she pondered these thoughts deeply. She loved being around Nia's pure bubbly joy and excitement. It was like having a little sister. She loved laughing at Brainy's attempt at a sense of humor. His jokes were so bad until they were funny. No one for months had been able to make her laugh except for him. Kara loved talking to Kelly about quantum theory and the still possible existence of the Multiverse. She was the only one that understood Kara's intellect and truly respected it. Granted, she was constantly trying to force Kara to talk to Alex, but, alas, no friendship was perfect. And Lena... Lena had become so innocent, so pure of heart and full of hope. She had been nothing but kind and considerate to Kara, even going with Kara to her cancer treatments. Lena had even been searching for a way to reverse the swap nonstop in order to save Kara's life. She, along with the others, made Kara truly happy. They were her friends.

NO! Friends were a weakness! She was a Luthor now! She couldn't actually be risking everything she had grown to believe in, everything she had worked so hard for, just for some pathetic form of companionship! But what if that's what I've been needing all along, Kara thought to herself. What if all she needed was to come clean to her friends and try to explain her reasoning to them. What if some of who she used to be, was a part of herself she desperately needed and desired.

Kara's phone dinged with a text from Lena.

"Hey, we're all going out tonight to the CatCo Charity Gala! Andrea said she sent you the invite, but you hadn't RSVP'd yet. I understand if you aren't feeling well, but if you are... ;)"

Kara grinned at the text and typed back. "Don't worry. I'll be there. Just tell Andrea to make sure there's lots of shapagne. I want to see Brainy do the Conga again."

"OMG! Like he did at the bar last week?! That would be hilarious!"

"I just want to see it in front of a bigger audience," Kara texted back.

"FOR SURE! LOL!"

"See you tonight... Supergirl."

"You too... Ms. Luthor. Her royal highness of the upper class."

"Jerk."

"I learned from the best," Lena replied. "Tonight is going to be so much fun. Can't wait!"

Kara sat down her phone, still smiling, until she looked over at her computer screen. It was showing that she only had until tonight at midnight until her new program with Mxy's blood was done loading into the Myriad protocol. Sooner or later she was going to be forced to make her final decision on the matter. And for some reason this thought terrified her more than anything else she had ever faced.

Kara spent the next few hours at her penthouse getting ready for the gala. She had done her dark hair in ringlets, slid on a ruby red dress with matching heels, wore her ruby earrings. She only stopped every now and then as her cancer pains would cause her to throw up a few times, but she was determined to have at least one last good night with her friends... even if Luthors weren't supposed to have any.

Lena was excited for the gala tonight. For the first time since the body swap, she was actually going to get to dress up. She had invited Alex over to help her get ready. She and Alex hadn't been spending too much time together because Kara had been needing her more. Lena hadn't told Alex about Kara's diagnoses, but the two had been working with Brainy to reverse the swap. Granted they hadn't told him who had been swapped, just that it was someone close to them from Midvale. Alex had been acting a little distant to everyone lately, she still hadn't told Lena what had made Kara so mad at her. And Kara had refused to elaborate either.

Alex had helped Lena pick out a royal blue dress with matching heels and white diamond earrings. Lena had her blonde hair tied up in a tight ponytail. Lena smiled at Alex and hugged her warmly. To be honest, Lena was kind of hoping that tonight maybe she could convince Kara and Alex to bury the hatchet. They were still sisters, even if Kara was in Lena's old body.

"Thank you, Alex," said Lena happily.

"Anytime," Alex smiled. "Have you, uh, talked to Kara lately?"

"Yeah," said Lena. "We call and text each other all the time. We've even been going out almost every night with everyone."

"Everyone?" asked Alex. "Even Kelly?"

"Uh-huh," said Lena. "Kara and Kelly mostly talk about science stuff. It gets kind of boring, but I'm glad they have someone that understands all of that Multiversal stuff." Lena frowned at Alex's expression. "Alex, I'm sorry. I thought Kelly told you that we were all hanging out."

"No... she didn't," Alex sighed deeply.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Lena. "I'm sure Kelly just didn't want you to feel awkward about it. She might not know about the body swap, but she does know you two haven't been on the best of terms."

"...Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you're right," said Alex unconvincingly. She then tried her best to smile and opened the apartment door. "Come on, let's go have some fun."

When Alex and Lena arrived at the CatCo Charity Gala, all Alex wanted was a stiff drink. She faked nice with Andrea, then she saw Brainy and Nia over near the bar.

"Hey, guys," smiled Alex. "Partying too hard or too little?"

Nia blushed and smiled at the same time. "Well, I'm trying to convince Brainy to loosen up and have more than one glass of shampagne. But he keeps refusing."

Brainy smiled as well, albeit a little pompously as he replied, "You can never be too careful with alcohol, you know? One drink too many and I'll wind up doing some sort of embarrassing dance like the Macarena instead of a respectable one like the Conga."

"Oh, he's right, Nia," Alex tried not to laugh. "There's nothing more respectable than the Conga."

"Exactly!" Brainy exclaimed proudly as Nia giggled. Then an upbeat song started to play and Brainy smiled. He took Nia by the hand and said, "Come on, my love! I feel a Conga Line approaching!"

Sometimes super hearing could get annoying. When Kara entered CatCo plaza for the gala, all eyes fell on her. Everyone was whispering about how beautiful and elegant she looked and Lena had to agree with them. Kara was almost better at being her than she was. Lena also had just shoved about twenty mini sandwiches in her mouth, so that wasn't helping any either, because just as Kara walked over and hugged her, Lena could hear everyone saying: "How can those two be such good friends? That Kara Danvers is so unladylike! Just look at how she eats!"

Lena chuckled quietly and Kara grinned, whispering: "Super hearing?"

"How did you know?" Lena raised her eyebrow slightly.

"Too much experience with it," Kara laughed a little. "What did you hear?"

"Oh, just that everyone can't believe we're friends, because you're so poise and ladylike and I'm not."

"People are cruel fools," sighed Kara.

"Don't worry," Lena smiled. "One day they'll learn a better way."

"...Yes, I'm sure of it," said Kara thoughtfully.

"Look at you being all hopeful," smiled Lena happily. "I knew you still had it in you."

"And what's that?" Kara smiled.

"You're innate inner Karraness," Lena chuckled.

"What is that exactly?" Kara laughed in good humor.

"Even though we were body swapped and we've spent all of these months living each other's lives... well, in our core we're still who we are at heart. All we've done is merely pick up each other's tendencies. Like I might be more cheerful, less poise, and more hopeful, but I'm still me in the end. Just a little bit wiser. And you're definitely still you, Kara. You've just been through more darkness than you have ever experienced before, but in the end you still have hope. Because no matter how many times you may trip in the dark, you'll still get up and find your way back to the light and to hope. It's like you've always told me: We're stronger together."

"You... are an amazing person, Lena Luthor," Kara tried to smile, but felt a tear running down her cheek.

"Kara... what's wrong?" Lena asked.

"Nothing," said Kara as she started to walk away. "I... I just need a moment to myself."

Alex was well into her fifth glass of shampagne when Kelly rushed over to her. "Honey, we need to talk."

"About you hanging out with Ka — Lena?" said Alex. "Thanks. But I already know."

"Babe, it's not like that," whispered Kelly. "Andrea was bragging to me about how Lena had revolutionized the Luthor satellites to broadcast across the universe. Between that and how sporadic Lena's been acting this whole year, I got suspicious and slipped some spyware into Lena's phone each time we hung out. She's planing to launch the Myriad project again and it's going to be ready to activate soon."

"How soon?" Alex asked in shock.

"Midnight."

Kara almost broke into a run by the time she reached the gala's balcony. She felt as if she was going to die right then and there. What had she done? Was she as right and as just as she convinced herself? Was Lena right? Was she still the same Kara she had always been? It couldn't be! The only way that she had been able to live with herself after killing those thugs was by convincing herself that wasn't really her! That Kara Danvers had died before that night. That she was a different person, a Luthor! But she wasn't even that. Lillian Luthor was right too. She had become a monster, but yet she was still Kara Danvers and she was losing her mind!

"You're right, you know?"

"Who?" Kara spun around and saw the ghost of the main thug she had killed. "You?!"

"You are a monster," the ghost laughed. "You always have been. All you needed was an excuse to let it out."

"You're wrong!" Kara said angrily. "You're not even real! Just a hallucination brought on by the HLH!"

"Still doesn't change that I'm right," said the ghost. "You've seen the proof, haven't you? Every other version of you out there was evil, but still you! Remember Overgirl from Earth X? She was you! The only difference was that she was raised by Nazis. Then you met Red Daughter. Once again, she was you just raised under different circumstances, but still evil. Face it, girly. You were always the villain of this story. And nothing will ever change that... Murderer!"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Kara screeched in agony and anguish.

"KARA!" Alex shouted as she ran over to her. "It's okay — I'm here! Just tell me — what's wrong? Who are you screaming at?!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" screeched Kara as she slugged Alex as hard as she could. Kara then realized with horror what she had just done as Alex went falling off of the twent-two story balcony. "ALEX!"

But then a bright blue blur shot down from the balcony and caught Alex. It was Lena. "Kara," she breathed, "what did you do?"

"I didn't — I didn't mean to hurt her?" said Kara frantically. "I just — I just — is she okay?"

"I'm fine," said Alex shakily. "It's no big deal."

"I'm so sorry," Kara cried. "I didn't mean to!"

"Oh, is that why you're using Myriad?" said Lena, a single tear running down her face. "I heard Kelly telling Alex about it. Was everything you've told me a lie? Did you set up the helicopter crash? Do you even have HLH?"

"HLH?" Alex asked in shock. "Kara... you're... you're dying?"

"You should know," Kara cried coldly. "You and your little whore have been spying on me, haven't you?! None of you were ever my friends, were you?! You never even wanted a sister! The Luthors were right! I should never have trusted any of you!" Kara then turned to back to Lena. "Oh, and most it was a lie! But I wasn't the only one doing it. Alex has been burning both sides! She originally teamed up with me and Lillian in order to force you to give me my body back. It was Lilian's idea for us to experience each other's lives to a T! Alex was assigned to make you more like me and Lillian was assigned to me.

"She and Lex hired a group of thugs to torture me for hours," Kara said coldly. "They ran hot pokers through me body and shot me repeatedly! The only way I could survive was to free myself after they left me to bleed out! Then, I shot them through each of their thick skulls. I wanted them dead! I wanted revenge! I didn't just trip in the dark, I free falled and I still am. And yes, I am dying with HLH! That part was true! But I would rather die then go back to being a second-rate Supergirl!"

Kara pulled out the breach device and leaped off the balcony. "KARA!" Lena and Alex both screamed as Lena dived after her. But Kara had already breached away. Lena flew back up to the balcony. "She's gone." Lena cried slowly. "She's gone back to my old lab, I expect."

"What have I done?" Alex cried.

"What have we done?" Lena cried too. "This is both of our faults, Alex. We both pushed her to this breaking point."

At that moment Kelly and Nia came running out to the balcony. "What's going on? Where's Lena?" They almost both asked in unison.

"...I'm right here," said Lena, trying to steady herself. "It's Kara we need to find."

Nia's eyes grew huge. "Wait a minute! You two switched bodies?! For how long?"

"It doesn't matter," said Lena. "We need to get Brainy and go."

Lena led the others back inside the gala and it didn't take them long to find Brainy.

"EVERYBODY CONGA! ONE — TWO — THREE — CONGA! MOVE THE ORGANIC OPERATUS YOU CALL HIPS! CONGA! CONGA!"

He was leading a long Conga Line much to Andrea's chargin. Lena shook her head. "On second thought, maybe we should let him sit this one out."

Kara had breached to the dention cells below the L-Corp building. One in particular to be precise.

"Hello, Mxy."

"Kara," the imp breathed anxiously. "You've finally come to your senses and justice has prevailed, hasn't it?"

"I need to know why," said Kara darkly.

"Why?" Mxy blinked. "Why what?"

"Why did you agree to swap my body with Lena's?"

"My employer," sighed Mxy. "His name is Metron. He's one of the New Gods and told me to come here and meet with the servants of being named Darkseid. Those servants were Lex and Lillian. I was trying to make a peaceful treaty with them in order to save the universe. And that deal was to switch you two so we could see which would be stronger. Nature or Nurture. The only way my side could win was if your inner hopeful nature won out in the end. If you proved your inner goodness could last through any dark path someone tried to set you on. If you don't do this and be the Kara that we all know and love, everyone will die!"

"LIAR!" Kara shouted as she kicked the machine keeping Mxy in his prison. "I am still the hero of this story. Just not the way you expected! Let this — this Darkseid come. I will kill him. No matter what the cost!"

Kara walked away from Mxy's prison and over to Lex's. The sociopath smirked at her from inside as he said, "Well, someone's feeling dramatic. Having fun, are we?"

Kara glared at him and replied, "I could kill you and your mother at any moment with my nanites. But I haven't yet."

"Yet being the keyword here," Lex smirked.

"Yes, it is," Kara smirked. "And the only way it stays like that is if you do something for me: Kill Supergirl and her little group of Superfriends."

"Ooooh, this is going to be fun," Lex smirked manically.

The alarm started to sound around them. "They're here." Kara opened Lex's prison and let him out. "Come. I have a gift for you." Kara summoned a Kryptonite exosuit by pressing on her phone.

"Oh, man," Lex laughed excitedly as he walked over to her. "I see it even comes in Kryptonite green! My favorite color!"

As Lex and Kara left the detention cells, Mxy thought all hope was lost. But then he saw the electric, magic dampening walls of his prison start to flicker. "I wonder..." Mxy muttered. He tried to summon his magic as sparks flew around his fingers. "She damaged my cell, when she kicked the control panel! Oh, thank Highfather!"

Lena and the Superfriends blasted into her old lab with full force, since Kara hadn't been too welcoming. They had already fought their way through thousands of security drones and guards. But the lab was empty.

"I still can't believe that Kara's doing all of this," said Nia. "This — this doesn't sound like her at all."

"The Luthors dark torture runs all too deep," sighed Brainy. "By Sprock! I should have figured this out sooner!"

"It's not your fault, Brainy," sighed Alex. "It's mine."

"No, it's ours," said Lena. "We both screwed up. But we're gonna fix it. And we're not going to lay a finger on her. We're here to save her, not fight her."

"Oh, how sweet." Kara's face appeared on all of the monitors around them. "That will make this soooo much easier."

"Kara —!"

Lena didn't get to finish her sentence as Lex shot out of the shadows like a rocket in his exosuit. He blasted Lena with pure and unconcentrated Kryptonite energy. Lena landed on her back, screaming in pain. It was worse than anything she had ever felt before.

"Hey, sis," said Lex. "Long time, no see. Too bad you to have die. I kind of miss the whole back and forth. I mean, Kara's fun and all but... oh, well..."

Nia, Brainy, and Alex all charged at Lex to protect Lena. Brainy probably withstood the most damage, much to his fury. "In another reality, I could be doing the Conga instead of this!"

"Oh, lighten up, Brainy!" snapped Nia.

Unbeknownst to them, everything was going as Kara expected. For a moment, she had second thoughts and hesitated. But then she shook her head and even though her entire body was trembling from the guilt of what she was about to do, she breached out of L-Corp and activated the building's self-destruct sequence.

Lena could hear the explosion as soon as it started, but she was too weak to fly everyone outside to safety. How could Kara do this? They were all going to die. The explosion then came from around the corner, right where Lex was hovering and firing Kryptonite blasts at the others.

"LOOK OUT!"

Lex only had time to look behind him before the explosion of fire engulfed him. And the Superfriends were about to be next.

"This looks like a job for, Mxy-Man!"

Lena looked behind her and saw the strangest man she had ever seen in her life wearing Superman cosplay. Alex stared at him in shock. Clearly she recognized him from somewhere. The man snapped his fingers and all of them (minus one extra-crispy Lex) were teleported ten miles away back at Kara's apartment.

Lena, Nia, and Brainy all stared at him in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" Lena asked.

The man smiled sheepishly as Alex walked over and slugged the hell out him. "You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do, Mxy!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! This was so much fun to write! And it only gets better! For in the next chapter, we’ll get to see a new hero born out this tragedy. Look out Nation City... Powergirl is on her way!


	8. This Looks Like A Job For... Powergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mxy has a lot of explaining to do to the Superfriends and Lena comes to a life altering decision. But is the world ready for... Powergirl?

“...Aaannnndddd that's how all of this came to be," said the imp from the fifth dimension.

Lena couldn't believe her ears. All these horrible events had been because an imp named Mxy made a bet with her deranged brother. Alex, meanwhile, looked as if she wanted to pull out her gun and kill Mxy right then and there.

"Mxy — how could you do this to Kara?" Alex shouted. "You should have come to us first! Then Kara could have been prepared!"

Mxy sighed sheepishly. "I would've, but then the deal would've become null and void. The whole point is to prove that pure goodness can overcome any type of evil. You know... like a person's inner nature overcoming their environment."

"I know what Nature VS Nurture is, Mxy!" Alex snapped bitterly.

"Hey, if I hadn't had done this," said Mxy, "Darkseid would have already invaded the earth! I chose Kara because she is... or was the Paragon of Hope! I never thought that Lena would actually turn out better than her!"

The apartment suddenly went quite as everyone's eyes turned to Lena. Lena knew why: they were expecting her to have another angry outburst. But nothing like that happened. Lena merely sighed herself and said, "He's right. I was never meant to be a hero. My life was so screwed up that, I guess, I was always meant to be a villain. Now, the world will fall first to Kara and then to Darkseid if I let this keep happening... if I keep pretending to be Supergirl."

"Lena... what are you saying?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"I'm saying that everyone else in this room is a hero," said Lena sadly. "But I'm not. Every time that I try to do the right thing... I screw it up. We all nearly died tonight because I was Supergirl instead of Kara. You will all be better off without me by your side." Lena then shot out of the apartment window and into the night sky.

She flew to the roof of the CatCo building and cried. Somehow, someway, she knew that this was all her fault. She had failed Kara, Alex, Nia, and Brainy. She had even been forced to watch her psycho brother die trying to kill everyone again. Lena wished that the body swap had never happened.

"Uhm, Lena?"

Lena turned around and saw Brainy landing on the rooftop. "Did you pick the short straw?"

"Short straw?" asked Brainy in a confused voice. "Oh, you mean to reference the outdated term of drawing straws to do something deemed rather unpleasant."

"Wow," said Lena dripping with sarcasm. "You really are a genius."

"Well, I am a twelfth level intellect," said Brainy proudly, unable to catch on. "But, no, I wanted to come here and see you. You needed to hear something extremely important."

"Yeah," sighed Lena. "What's that?"

"That you are being, as Nia calls it, cray-cray," said Brainy fiercely.

"You just said 'cray-cray' and I'm the one who's crazy," said Lena bitterly. "Sure."

"But don't you see why?" Brainy asked stubbornly. "You have suffered through such a great travesty of a childhood by being a Luthor, but you overcame that darkness every single time you needed to. You helped to stop the Daxamite invasion, you helped save Samatha Arias from being overtaken by a world killer, you even tried to kill your brother to protect the world and your friends! Yes, sometimes you fell in your own darkness, but you never gave up on the hope of becoming something better than your — your heritage! Something pure! A force for good! Even in these past few months where you got to have the life you always wanted, you were ready to give it up to save Kara's life. You are a hero, Lena. And just because no one ever expected you to be one doesn't change that at all."

"But I keep failing to save Kara," Lena started to cry. "And if I can't save her... how can I save the entire world. I have all of these powers now... and... well, Luthors have never been good with power."

"Power doesn't have to be a bad thing," said Brainy. "Power can used for good and kindness when used properly. And you have proven that a good majority of the time you will use every power at your disposal to save as many lives as possible. You can prove that having power a truly good thing."

"But — but I can't keep pretending that I'm Supergirl," said Lena. "It's just something I'm not. It isn't me."

"Then don't be Supergirl," said Brainy smiling slightly. "Be who you are! Be a — a — a Powergirl!"

"Powergirl?" Lena smiled halfway through the last of her tears. "Did you just come up with that on the spot?"

"Do you, uhm, not like it," said Brainy embarresedly. "Because I rather thought —!"

"No, no, Brainy — I love it!" Lena threw her arms around Brainy, hugging him tightly. "You're a good friend, Brainiac 5."

"And so are you... Lena Luthor," said Brainy smiling too. "Oh, Sprock! I almost forgot that I made you a knew suit. One befitting a Powergirl!"

"Really?" Lena asked excitedly.

"The question is... are you ready to wear it own your first mission?"

"I'm Lena Luthor," she replied. "I was born ready."

When Lena and Brainy had finally returned back to Kara's apartment. Everyone stared at her in shock. But then Nia smiled happily and said, "Oh my gosh! Lena, you look incredible!"

Lena had cut her hair shorter into a pixie cut and was wearing her new super suit. It was colored pure white with blue gloves and matching boots as well as a red cape. There was no crest on this one though, but Lena liked it better that way. She smiled at all of them and said, "Thank you. Now, I think that it's time that we bring Kara back home."

But before any of them could say another word — the entire earth shook violently. Then, the skies outside shined blood-red. "What the hell?" Lena asked in shock.

Mxy looked as though he was going to be sick. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!"

He and the others looked at the window and saw a black planet orbiting up in the atmosphere, spurrting out fire.

"That is Darkseid's homeworld," he said nervously. "That is Apocalypes! Did I forget to mention that we are on a bit of a timetable?"

"How much time do we have left?" Alex asked him.

"Two hours."

"That's okay," said Lena as calmly as she possibly could. "Because I know where Kara is going to try and launch Myriad."

"Where?" Nia asked.

"The only place with enough processing power to emit a fifth dimensional signal," said Lena. "The Fortress Of Solitude."

Alex and the others all stared at Lena in shock. She smiled. "Hey, just because I didn't retain my genius IQ in this swap, doesn't mean I didn't gain a little... Kryptonian knowledge. Come one, this looks like a job for... Powergirl!"

Kara woke up in the icy tundra of the Fortress. She had passed out again. The cancer was eating her away. She might even only have a few hours left to live. ...NO! She refused to give up! She would never stop fighting. Not until the world was saved. Kara walked over to the control panel and activated the Myriad program. The countdown then began, Myriad would finally launch in thirty minutes. Kara could still see the red skies outside, along with the fiery black planet. It must be Darkseid. Time was almost up. Then, the Fortress alarm sounded as Lena and the Superfriends arrived on the exterior. Kara did a double take.

"Oh, good Rao," she snarled. "What did she do to my — her hair!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I’m sorry that I haven’t updated this fic in so long, but my dog was diagnosed with bone cancer and I have been struggling to take care of him. Hopefully you will see plenty more chapters in the coming days. But please keep my dog in your thoughts and prayers. Also, get ready for an epic showdown in the next chapter between Powergirl and Kara. Who will win? And is Kara truly too far gone? You’ll all soon find out!


	9. I Am Supergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and the Superfriends stage once last battle for Kara’s soul as both Myriad an Darkseid approach. But no matter what — death will claim a new victim.

When Lena and the Superfriends landed outside of the Fortress they weren't expecting it to be so easy to walk inside. Lena, or more like Kara's, DNA could still unlock the security system. Lena used her x-ray vision to survey the the area. "We have an incoming!"

A swarm of Kalix androids started to swarm at them, ray-guns blasting away! Alex gave Lena a quick look and said, "Find Kara! We'll handle these damn things!"

"Alright," said Lena as she shot up in the air to fly to the top of the Fortress. "Up, up, and away!"

Lena landed on the highest level inside of the Fortress where Kara was waiting for her. "Well... I would say I love what you did with my hair... but that would be a lie that even a Luthor couldn't get away with."

"Kara, I don't want to fight you," said Lena pleadingly. "Mxy told us everything."

"Oh, so the pesky, little imp escaped?" Kara sneered. "Good. I could use some more of his blood. For the sake of science, of course."

"Kara, you know what's at stake here," Lena sighed. "We need you to remember who you really are. You are not a Luthor. You are Supergirl. Not me. Not anyone else. You."

"Well, then," Kara sneered as she took out a small S shield from her pocket that Lena was all too familiar with, "I might as well dress the part." Kara pressed the shield on her chest and the very Kryptonite suit that Lena, herself, had once designed, materialized on her. Kara then rose above the ground and zoomed right into Lena, who barely had time to steady herself in mid-air.

"That — that hurt!" Lena shouted. "How do you have super strength and can fly too? That suit doesn't have any artificial power tech. It's only supposed to protect you from Kryptonite!"

"I may have made some improvements," Kara chuckled mirthlessly. "Now, you can't punch your way out of this!"

Kara shot at Lena again, who dodged the attack just in time. Lena super-sped around Kara and pinned down her arms with her own. "I'm not going to fight you, Kara. You — are — not — a — villain!"

"Why are you still trying to save me?" Kara growled.

"You don't need saving," said Lena still struggling to restrain Kara. "You never did. I don't think everything that's allowed me to get this close to stopping you happened by coincidence."

"What are you playing at?" Kara snarled.

"You imprisoned Lex and Lillian," said Lena. "Not to get revenge, but to protect me and everyone else in your life. You confided in me about your cancer, not to manipulate me for some evil scheme, but to force me to understand why you were doing this. Because you needed your friends again. You freed Mxy on purpose, so he could save us from your bomb. And you didn't change the DNA lock on the Fortress, because you wanted me to stop you. You wanted Mxy to win the bet, just not the way he thought he would. You wanted to prove that I was the good one all along despite my upbringing and that me living your life didn't change any of it."

"SHUT UP!" Kara broke free of Lena's grip and started pummeling her. The two women went crashing down through the different layers of the Fortress. By the time that they crash landed in the snow below, Lena's face was a bloodied mess. Kara would have continued to punch her again and again, but Lena spoke one last time:

"You never stopped trying to save people, Kara. You never stopped being Supergirl. You never stopped trying to save me."

Lena's words forced Kara to stagger off of her, tossing off the K-Suit's helmet. Kara's whole body was shaking as tears poured down her face. "Oh, Rao! What am I doing?"

"You're doing something beautiful, sis."

Kara looked behind herself with dread as she saw a very much still alive, but badly burnt Lex Luthor. But he wasn't alone either. He was holding Alex by her neck, holding a Kryptonite sword pointed at her back.

"Alex..." Kara breathed. "What are you doing here, Lex?"

"Oh, I got mother and myself out of there before your little bomb could kill us," Lex grinned manically. "Good try, though. Much cooler than anything Lena ever did. But there's still one more thing you need to do before you cement yourself in the Luthor legend. Darkseid only gets to conquer earth and make all the Luthors gods, including you, if you prove that there is only darkness in your heart. So, what do you say, come over here and run this Kryptonite sword through your ex-sister so we can get this whole godhood evolution thing going?"

Kara looked at at Alex, who was battered and beaten. "Kara... please..." Kara then looked at Lena who was still too weak from their fight and the radiation from the Kryptonite sword to move. Kara wasn't sure what to do. Then, the ghost of the thug appeared before her once more. He smirked at her and said, "You know what you are! You're not a Supergirl! You only give a damn about yourself! Kill Alex, just like you killed me! Become a god. A soldier of darkness! You know that's the only way you will survive! Do it! DO IT!"

Kara walked over towards Lex and Alex as she remembered spending her childhood in Midvale with her. How Alex had always been by her side every step of her life. Kara's own words from a few years past echoed in her mind: "The reason that I became Supergirl was to save you."

Kara finally reached Lex, who handed her the sword. Kara gripped it tightly.

"That a girl," Lex smirked.

Kara looked deep into Alex's eyes and she swung the razor-sharp blade, but not at Alex. Kara hit her her real mark — Lex's right arm that was restraining Alex.

"YOU BITCH!" Lex shouted furiously.

Kara caught Alex and laid her gently on the snow. Kara then threw the sword as far away as she could. "Myriad program: code 1953!"

The Fortress responded back to her kindly, saying: "Myriad program is now cancelled. Now, deleting all files."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Lex shouted.

"Being myself," Kara smiled. "I am not a Luthor! My name is Kara Danvers and I — AM — SUPERGIRL! Thank you, for reminding me who I am, Lex. I'm not just darkness or light. I will never let anyone harm my sister and I will never take another life again. No matter what you, Lillian, or anyone else ever does to me — I will never be you! I will never lose my identity or my hope!"

"NO!" Lex shouted. "YOU CAN'T —!"

Kara smiled and said, "Just look up in the sky, Lex."

Everyone in the Fortress stared up above and saw that the red skies had reverted back to their natural color of blue and the black, fiery planet had vanished.

"Looks like the apocalypse just got cancelled," Kara laughed. "Wait... I'm sorry, did I step on your big bad guy moment?"

Lex glared at Kara maliciously. Alex smiled up at Kara and said, "Welcome back, Kara. Man, did I miss you."

Kara smiled back at her and said, "Oh, I was never really gone. Lena just proved that."

Lena struggled to stand up and said, "No problem. Alex is right though, it's good to see you doing you again."

"Thanks, Lena," said Kara, "for everything. I —!"

BAAAAAANNNNGGGG!

A loud blast echoed throughout the Fortress as Lena and Alex looked at Kara in horror. A large hole had been burned through her K-Suit, into her back, and right through her chest. Kara looked down at her wound and the blood pouring out of it and looked back at both Lena and Alex and said, "I love you..."

Kara Danvers then fell to the snow as death crept towards her. "KARA!" Both women shouted. Lena looked over at Lex, who was still holding the smoking blaster. He smirked and said, "Oh, I'm sorry... did I just step on her big good guy moment?"

Lena blasted him through two ice pillars with her heat vision as Alex ran towards Kara. Nia, Brainy, and Mxy then came rushing up towards them. They all looked badly beaten and bruised from their fight with the Kalix androids, but they were all still alive. Their faces fell when they saw Kara bleeding out.

"I don't feel a pulse," Alex cried. "Mxy — DO SOMETHING!"

"We need to bring her somewhere that can I use some tech to enhance my abilities," said Mxy, his voice shaking. "I'm too drained right now to even teleport everyone back to National City, let alone revive her! And I'm talking high tech, like what Kara used to perfect Myriad with my blood."

"Star Labs," Lena breathed. "They have the tech we need. They're the only ones who could come close. I can fly both of you there right now. Brainy, can you take Alex and Nia, and follow us?"

"Indeed," said Brainy.

"Good," said Lena. "Let's just pray that Team Flash can save Kara... one way or another."

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, what an ending, right? This fic is starting to reach its epic conclusion! We only have two chapters left to go (I’ve decided to make the fic only eleven chapters)! Do you think Kara can be revived? Either way, Team Flash is going to be major guest stars and you know... where Team Flash goes, time travel usually follows.


	10. I Can’t Lose You Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena goes to desperate measures in order to save Kara’s life by seeking out the help of Barry Allen — the Flash! Her plan is simple: travel back in time to before the body swap and prevent it from happening. But can her crazy plan succeed?

"Whoa... this is totally messed up!"

Lena had never met Cisco Ramon before, but now that she had... she couldn't stand him. He was so talkative and couldn't help but make pop-culture references every time he spoke.

"I mean — you're a Luthor!" He said in awe. "Lena frackin Luthor, but you're literally inside of Supergirl's body. This is even weirder then the time Barry and Oliver had their own Quantum Leap moment. This is like an honest to goodness Freaky Friday! Or is it more of a Face/Off thing? On second thought, maybe it's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Oooh, or perhaps it's like that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You know? Not the lousy first season one, though. I'm talking the ultra cool and deep season four ep. Where Buffy and Faith switch bodies."

"Oh, my god!" I shouted furiously. "Can't you just shut up for ten lousy minutes?! No one cares about that damn 'Who Are You!' episode! KARA IS DYING!"

"Okay, I'll shut up," Cisco said meekly. "But Kara is in good hands. Caitlin, Alex, Brainy, and Nash are some of the smartest people on the planet. If there is anyway to save Kara, they can and will. Plus, we got our own all-powerful imp here too. Which is pretty cool, I gotta say."

Mxy and Nia were the only other ones in the lounge with Lena. All she wanted to do was scream and punch something, but with her Kryptonian powers that could cause way too much damage. She was already having trouble controlling them because of her emotional state.

"I can't heal her," said Mxy finally. "It was part of the deal. I can't interfere with either Kara or Lena dying... even now. At least, not directly."

"Which is why we brought Kara here," said Nia.

"That wasn't the only reason," said Lena. "I need to see the Flash. Where is Barry Allen?"

"You want to do what?" Barry Allen asked in shock a few minutes later in a closed off room inside Star Labs.

"I want to combine our speed, so I can travel back in time months ago to prevent this body swap from ever happening," said Lena determinedly.

"Lena... time travel is very dangerous and unpredictable," said Barry. "Kara wouldn't want to risk the world or the timeline just to save her. No matter how much it kills me to admit it."

"We'll never know what Kara would want!" Lena snapped. "Because she's probably going to die at any minute!"

"We don't know that!" Barry snapped back. "Kara can still live! She can fight this! She'll —!"

Ding! Ding!

Barry pulled out his phone as his face fell. Lena already knew what it must have said. Tears formed in both hers and Barry's eyes. "It's Kara... they can't... they can't save her. Her HLH is preventing any type of healing treatment that they try on her. She only has a few minutes left."

"Then we have to do this now!" Lena pleaded. "Kara told me that your best friend and mentor — Oliver Queen — died to save both hers and your life. So if you don't want to let Oliver's sacrice be in vain... you'll help me save Kara's life no matter what the cost!"

"...Fine," said Barry. "But only if we do it fast and you come back to this exact moment, okay?"

"Okay."

Barry brought Lena down to the Speed Lab and attached one Tachyeon Enhancer on her chest and a transmitter on his. "This will allow me to transfer some of my speed to your body. Once your going at a fast enough rate, you'll travel to the moment in time you're thinking of and you'll only have two hours to return to this time. So, be careful and..."

"Don't you dare tell me not to screw this up!" Lena snapped bitterly. "I know the risks."

"Okay," said Barry. "You ready?"

"Always."

Lena had never experienced time travel before and the now that she was — in one word — it was exilerating! She had never flown so fast in her life and could see time unfolding right in front of her eyes. And soon... she had made it to her destination:

National City. The very day before the body swap. Lena had a good idea of where Kara would be today. Probably in mid-flight to the L-Corp building. Lena flew as fast as she could, but just as she started to see the towering skyscraper, she was body slammed by what felt like a ton of Kryptonite. Lena steadied herself, in midair, just before crashing into the CatCo building.

"What the hell?!" Lena cursed.

"I don't know who you are, but I want you to answer me one question: Why are you wearing my face?!"

Lena's attacker was the very friend that she had been so desperately trying to save. "Kara?"

"How do you know my name?!" Kara asked. "The Multiverse is gone, so you can't be from another earth. Please, don't tell me that this is another Red Daughter thing. I really can't deal with this right now. Because I'm trying to meet my best friend for lunch and this is really ruining those plans."

"Kara... it's me," said Lena. "It's Lena. I'm from the future and I've come back to this time to save your life."

"Lena?" Kara asked in disbelief. "Prove it."

"Okay," said Lena. "About three years ago, after Mon-El left for the future, you and I went out to this alien night club and you got so drunk that you started stripping down in front of everyone and I had to drag you into the bathroom. Where, I might add, that you spent the next six hours puking."

"Oh, great Rao!" Kara clamped her hands over her mouth in shock. "Lena — it is you! But why — why do you look like a punk rock version of me?"

Lena and Kara flew to the latter's apartment. Once they arrived, Lena told Kara the whole story.

"So, that's why we need to find Mxy and stop him before he makes the deal with Lex," Lena finished.

"Lena... I can't," said Kara sadly.

"...What do you mean you can't?" Lena asked in total surprise. "Kara, if you don't do this — you'll die!"

"I know," said Kara sadly. "But if it means that we save the world and that was the only way to do it... I can't change that decision."

"Kara... what are you saying?"

"Lena, I have been Supergirl for over six years now," said Kara. "And over those six years, I have lost so much. I lost Mon-El and Jeremiah. I gave up sooo many different opportunities, and friends because of the sacrifices that I've had to make. But every one of them was worth it. Being a hero or a paragon isn't about saving yourself, its about doing the right thing no matter what the cost.

"So, if I can give up my life to save you, Alex, Nia, Brainy, J'ohn, Barry, Iris, Cisco, and everyone else — I will. Because, not only is it right, but I know that you will be here to carry the torch after I'm gone. You have always been my hero, Lena Luthor, and now it's time for you to be that for everyone in this universe."

"But... Kara... I..." Lena cried. "I can't lose you again."

"Hey, you'll see me every time you look in the mirror... and in your heart," Kara wiped a tear from Lena's face.

Lena let out a watery laugh. "How is it you can make me smile? Even in a time like this?"

"Well, making people smile has always been my job," said Kara. "It's part of the whole hope thing. Just like you've always been the one who could do the same for me. You're just as much of a Paragon of Hope as I am, Lena Luthor. But I need you to do one last thing for me."

"Anything," said Lena.

"I can't remember that you came here to warn me," said Kara. "It could ruin Mxy's plan. There is an ability that Kryptonians have that Clark told me about a few years ago. If we cause a high enough sound frequency by whistling with our super breath, it causes the anyone who can hear it temporary memory loss. I need you to do that to me."

"...Alright," said Lena. "Just — just tell me how."

"She didn't want to do it, did she?" Barry Allen asked Lena when she returned.

"Yes," Lena cried. "You were right. That was her choice. Is Kara...?"

"No."

"What?" said Lena. "How?"

"Mxy saved her by... draining the life force of someone else and giving it to Kara," said Barry tearfully.

"That... was what Mxy meant by not directly?" said Lena tearfully. "Who... who did it? Who's...?"

"It's Alex," said Barry. "She gave her life to save Kara's. I told you to come back to the exact moment you left, but you didn't... it's been thirty minutes."

"Oh, my god," said Lena.

"You need to go see her," said Barry. "Your best friend really needs right now."

Lena walked over to the infirmary door, her hands trembling. But, finally, she opened the door. Alex's body was pale and limp, but was cradled in Kara's arms. Brainy, Nia, Cisco, Mxy, Caitlin, and Nash all were trying to comfort Kara and calm down the crying ex-Kryptonian. Lena motioned for them all to leave as she touched Kara's shoulder. "I'm sorry... but she's gone, Kara. But it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is."

"No," said Lena. "It's mine."

"NO! ITS NOT! ITS MY FAULT. ALL OF THIS IS MY FAULT!" Kara screamed.

"Kara, don't hate yourself," said Lena tearfully. "If you need someone to hate... hate me."

"I can't, Lena," said Kara handing Alex's lifeless body to Lena.

"Why not?" Lena laid Alex's body gently on a nearby chair.

"Because I can't lose you too."

TO BE CONTINUED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... was anyone prepared for that ending? I’m sorry for not posting in a while. I’ve been really busy with work and taking care of my dog. But we only have one chapter left in this fic and that is one hell of an epilogue. I can’t wait for all of you to see it. Let me know what y’all thought in the comments and what your theory’s are for the final part.


	11. It’s Who I am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been six weeks since Alex Danvers died, and big changes lie ahead. The Justice League gets a new member. CatCo gets a new owner. And a deadly bargain is struck in this epilogue to The Great Switcheroo.

SIX WEEKS LATER

Alex Danvers had died as she lived:

A hero. Period.

Kara knew this, but it still hadn’t changed how much it hurt her. Alex’s sacrifice had done more than heal her of her fatal injury, it had cured her of the HLH. Kara was now perfectly healthy in her now permanent body. Yes, the body swap was irreversible according to Mxy. Kara would now always be known to the public as Lena Luthor, but, thankfully, her friends and family knew differently. The Superfriends had been there for her so much as of late, especially Lena. Kara had shared her grief with Kelly, gone out to see rom-coms with Nia and Brainy. J’ohn had finally returned from Mars and spent countless hours with Kara as they shared their favorite memories of Alex. J’ohn had even erased a captured Lex and Lillian’s memories of Kara and Lena’s true identities. But Lena had gone above and beyond to be there for Kara. She helped Kara find hope every day, especially now...

“Are you ready?” Lena asked Kara.

“Yeah,” Kara smiled as she activated the K-suit. It quickly spread over her business suit and Kara felt an all too familiar rush of power. The returned S shield now covering her chest. “Was this thing always so tight?”

“It wouldn’t be so tight fitting if someone didn’t spend every other night eating potstickers and pizza,” Lena laughed.

“Hey,” said Kara. “I work out seven hours everyday. I believe you can eat anything as long as you put in a good excercise effort... even if I am stuck with a stupid, slow, human metabolism.”

“Hey, not all humans are that slow.”

Kara smiled as Barry Allen or, more accurately, his costumed counterpart, the Flash, taking a gulp out of his water bottle, entered the Hall of Justice followed by Sara Lance.

“Well, speaking as one of those slow humans,” said Sara wryly, “Kara still looks hot even in a different body. And I’m sure she’s just as much as a bad-ass in that K-suit.”

“Barry! Sara!” Kara ran over and hugged them both. “It is so great to see you two on better circumstances. Thank you, for doing this.” Before Barry could do more than smile a giant whoosh interrupted him.

“Anytime you need us, we’ll always be here for you.”

“Clark!” Kara said happily.

Superman smiled at his cousin happily as he poured some water out of Barry’s bottle (which he had grabbed from Barry at super speed) into a small, disposable, cup.

“What a guy. He steals my words and my drink. Now, I know how Oliver felt,” Barry chuckled.

“You know that you’ll always be my favorite speedster, Barry,” Kara laughed. She was with her oldest allies turned friends, and it felt good. That feeling had been in short supply lately.

“Should I take that personally?” Superman grinned.

“Only if you still have a super ego to match your name,” Kara laughed.

“Ouch,” Superman laughed. “Come here, cous’.”

Kara and Superman hugged tightly. “You still give great hugs, Clark... even if we’re not...”

“Hey, no matter what body you’re in or whether your last name is Danvers or Luthor — we will always be family, Kara,” Clark smiled at her warmly.

“I could definitely use family,” Kara smiled through her helmet’s visor. “And it’s about to get bigger. Clark, Sara, allow me to introduce you to Powergirl. Barry already met our new super Lena...”

“Yeah, now that was scary,” said Barry trying to quickly change the subject. He could tell that night at Star Labs and Alex’s death still haunted her. “I didn’t even know that Kara’s old face could scowl like that.”

“That’s why people never get on my bad side,” said Lena slyly. “But I promise that you won’t have to see it ever again, Barry.”

“Welcome to family, Lena,” Clark smiled. “From What Kara’s told me about you and from what I saw during the Daxamite invasion — I’ll be proud to fight alongside you.”

“Well, to be honest, I still have a lot to learn,” Lena smiled. “But, luckily, my new mentor will be fighting right beside us.”

“That’s right,” Sara smiled. “I hear that Kara outfitted that K-suit with all kinds of new tricks.”

“Yeah,” said Kara. “I used the old Amazo specs to create power duplication tech in this suit. So, basically I can now copy any type of super power I come in contact with. Well, except for heat vision and freeze breath. But Killer Frost’s ice powers more than make up for that.”

“Cool,” said Barry. “So, uh, what story are we running with, because there are so many reporters outside waiting to hear about Supergirl and the newest member of our little... Justice League?”

“Oooh, I like that name,” said Kara. “But the story we’re running with is that Supergirl has an identical doppelgänger from an alternate future and when they went on their first mission together — she was blasted with so much cosmic radiation that she has to wear the K-suit from now on. And now, the doppelgänger, Powergirl, is joining our team to help defend the world. Sounds good, right?”

“Definitely sounds like a plot from a comic book,” Sara smiled.

“Says the woman who flys around in a time ship,” Barry.

“You do know that I’m an assassin, don’t you?”

“If you try to kill me, I’ll tell Ava,” Barry laughed.

“You think that I’m scared of my girlfriend?” Sara asked her eyebrows arched.

“Duh,” Barry smirked.

“Huh, didn’t think that you would call my bluff,” Sara laughed. “Well, Powergirl, Supergirl, ready to make our big announcement?”

“Always,” Lena smiled.

Barry, Sara, and Lena all walked towards the exit to the reporters as Kara heard the White Canary say to Lena, “By the way, cool haircut.”

Clark put his hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Are you sure that you’re doing okay? We might could still find a way to undo the body swap...”

“Thanks, but I think I can make this work,” said Kara. “Besides, there are some perks to being a Luthor... like buying CatCo. I mean, technically I co-own it with Andrea now, but it’s a step in the right direction. Just like continuing to be Supergirl. It’s my destiny. It’s who I am. And nothing will ever change that. Even if I’m stuck inside my best friend’s body. But I finally realize that I’ve never needed to be Kyptonian to be a hero. Lena and Alex taught me that. It’s something that I will never forget.”

“Alex... I mean... she would be so proud of you,” Clark smiled. “I’m sure that she’s smiling down upon us right now.”

Kara tried her best not to cry. “About that... there is something you can do for me.”

“Anything,” said Clark, “just name it.”

“What do you know about New Genesis?”

Not even twenty-four hours later, CatCo had published an article by “Kara Danvers” with Supergirl and Powergirl on the front page alongside the other Justice League members. Kara had to admit it, Lena had really started to hit a stride on reporting. Kara had never felt so proud of Lena before, she knew that the two of them could make it through whatever came next.

Kara was now standing inside of the fortress once more. She was wearing her scarlet business suit and pacing around anxiously. She had to be careful about what she was about to do next. She had just gotten all of her friends and family back. Even Eliza still loved her as a daughter, even though Alex had died to save her... but that’s why she had to do this. Alex is her sister. Not was as in past tense. But is as in always. Even death would never break their bond. She owed everything to her.

BOOOOM!

A loud white portal opened up before her as Clark and a man dressed in black and silver, hovering inside of a golden chair humming with advanced technology, stepped out of it.

“Kara, this is Metron of the New Gods,” said Clark. “Metron, this is my cousin — Kara Zor-El or as the people of earth call her — Supergirl.”

“I know who she is, Kal-El,” said Metron coldly. “Kara Zor-El, your cousin has saved my world countless times. So, I give you ten minutes of an audience. Speak!”

“Metron, I know it was you who hired Mxy to work as a peacemaker between Darkseid and everyone else,” said Kara. “I also know, from my cousin, that New Genesis has certain protocols to raise the dead. So, I ask you — what would you be willing to give me in exchange for the total destruction of Darkseid?”

“I would say... what are you willing to sacrifice to achieve this?”

“Everything.”

“Very well then,” Metron smiled in anticipation. “We have a lot to discuss.”

“Yes, we do.”

THE END?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, I have loved writing this Supergirl story and have even received a request on Tumblr for a new one set in a different continuity. This is one of the first times that I have ever announced this story idea and title. Are you ready?  
> My next fic will be called "REIGN OF THE SUPERGIRL". It will be (as requested) about a body swap between Kara Danvers/Supergirl and Samantha Arias/Reign set in the middle of Supergirl Season 3! I am really excited for this story as it will be a complete change of pace from THE GREAT SWITCHEROO. In this story, Reign will try to take over Supergirl's body during a fight by using a powerful kryptonian crystal. But things go awry when only Reign's good half (Sam) ends up in Kara's body and Kara winds up sharing Sam's with Reign. Desperate to keep Ruby and the world safe, Sam begs Kara (who can somehow fight off the Reign personality completely) to make the switch permanent.  
> As you can see from the plot description, it's going to be a different kind of swap than Switcheroo has been with Lena and Kara. I really can't wait to write Kara as trying to be a working single mother and get to show a more carefree side to Sam (who will finally get to enjoy using superpowers).  
> I also have another fic idea coming up for a Supergirl/Stargirl body swap crossover that I might be writing at the same time as the Reign one. Its title will be "STAR-SWAPPED". In this one, an over stressed Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl accidentally activates a new ability of the Cosmic Staff during a fight against Shiv, that causes her to wake up on a different earth and in a completely different body — one belonging to Kara Danvers/Supergirl. Needless to say, Courtney is at first freaked out, but soon starts to enjoy her new, kryptonian, adult body. From getting to be a world famous superhero, a renowned reporter (which is going to be an easy job, right?), and getting to be totally independent, Courtney might could get used to this super-life! Well, except for having to wear Kara's overly girly clothes, paying bills on time, and having a crazy bald guy trying to kill her. Meanwhile, Kara wakes up on Earth 2, in Courtney's body. Only nobody believes her about the body swap, thinking it's just a side effect of the staff. So, now, until she can figure out a way home, Kara is forced to endure the hell that is high school as a regular human, be home by curfew, and stop Shiv from unleashing an ancient evil. Yeah. That shouldn't be too hard... as long as she can figure out how to use that staff-thingy.  
> And, after I finish both of those stories... I might or might not have plans for a sequel to THE GREAT SWITCHEROO. Which you might have a little bit of a hint to what the plot will be, after reading this epilogue. So, be on the lookout! Also, let me know of what y’all thought about this fanfic as whole and which chapter was you favorite. Until then...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone, this is my first attempt at a fanfic. This is the first chapter of a twelve part fic. Please let me know what y'all think of it and where you think the story will go next. I would love to hear all of your theories.


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